New Trial Ordered in Unpublished Melendez-Diaz Autopsy Case

Along with the published cases released by the N.C. Court of Appeals on August 3, 2010, was an unpublished case of note. In State v. Davis, __ N.C. App. __ (Aug. 3, 2010), the court ordered a new trial after finding that the trial judge erred by admitting into evidence an autopsy report prepared by a non-testifying pathologist. In Davis, the defendant was charged with killing the victim by setting him on fire. An autopsy of the victim’s body was performed by Dr. Garner, of the Medical Examiner’s Office in Chapel Hill. Garner did not testify at trial. Instead, over the defendant’s objection, the State introduced the autopsy report through the testimony of Dr. Gulledge, an expert in forensic pathology with the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner’s Office. On appeal, the defendant argued that his constitutional rights were violated when the trial court admitted into evidence Garner’s testimonial statements without the defendant having been afforded a prior opportunity to cross-examine Garner. Citing State v. Locklear, 363 N.C. 438 (2009), the court of appeals agreed. In Locklear, the North Carolina Supreme Court held that a Crawford violation occurred when the trial court admitted opinion testimony of non-testifying experts regarding a victim’s cause of death and identity. The testimony was admitted through the Chief Medical Examiner, who read the non-testifying experts’ reports into evidence, rather than testifying to an independent opinion. Since Locklear, the court of appeals has issued a number of related opinions, some of which created confusion about the viability of the [...]