Author's note: I added the conclusory paragraph at the end of this post shortly after its initial publication in response to helpful questions from readers about the significance of State v. Godwin and State v. Torrence. Like Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, horizontal gaze nystagmus is a mouthful. Unlike Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, not just anyone can utter horizontal gaze nystagmus and sound wise beyond her years. Two recent court of appeals opinions hold that that a witness be qualified as an expert before testifying about the results of a horizontal gaze nystagmus test. What is HGN? The horizontal gaze nystagmus (HGN) test is one of three standardized field sobriety tests that law enforcement officers employ to determine whether a driver is impaired by alcohol. To administer the test, an officer holds a pointer, which may be a finger, a pen, a penlight, or another similar object, 12 to 15 inches in front of a suspect’s nose. The officer then tells the suspect to hold his head still and to follow the pointer with his eyes as the officer moves the pointer laterally to the edge of the suspect’s peripheral gaze in a given direction. The officer observes the suspect’s eye to see whether it smoothly follows the pointer or whether it involuntarily jerks as it moves along--a phenomenon termed nystagmus. A “lack of smooth pursuit” is considered a clue that a person is impaired. When the pointer reaches the outermost edge of the suspect’s gaze, the officer holds the pointer still for at least four seconds. In [...]
Faculty Coordinators
