State v. Thompson, ___ N.C. App. ___, 792 S.E.2d 177 (Oct. 18, 2016)

The trial court did not abuse its discretion by denying the defendant’s motion seeking funds to hire an expert to retest DNA samples in this rape and kidnapping case. Prior to trial, the defendant retained an expert to review DNA testing done by the State’s DNA expert. Although the defendant’s expert criticized certain procedures used in the State’s expert and took issue with some of her characterizations of the degree of similarity between the various samples, he did not dispute the ultimate results of that DNA analysis. After this expert submitted his report, the defendant moved for funding to hire another expert to retest the DNA samples. The trial court denied the motion, noting in part that the defendant’s prior expert did not recommend the use of a new, more accurate testing procedure unavailable at the time of the State’s DNA test.