Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
Table of Contents
State v. Barnes, 226 N.C. App. 318 (Apr. 2, 2013)
In a murder case, the defendant’s right of confrontation was not violated when Dr. Jordan, an expert medical examiner, testified that in his opinion the cause of death was methadone toxicity. As part of his investigation, Jordan sent a specimen of the victim’s blood to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for analysis. During trial, Jordan testified that in his opinion the cause of death was methadone toxicity and that his opinion was based upon the blood toxicology report from the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office. When defense counsel raised questions about the test showing methadone toxicity, the trial court allowed the State to call as a witness Jarod Brown, the toxicologist at the State Medical Examiner’s Officer who analyzed the victim’s blood. Noting the evolving nature of the confrontation question presented, the court concluded that even assuming arguendo that Jordan’s testimony was erroneous, any error was cured by the subsequent testimony and cross-examination of Brown, who performed the analysis.