Even the greenest of prosecutors knows to ask it. And all officers, from rookie to veteran, know how to answer. Rare is the impaired driving case without it. What’s the it? The opinion question, of course. You’ll find the following exchange recorded in many a DWI transcript. Q: Did you form an opinion, satisfactory to yourself, that the defendant had consumed a sufficient amount of some impairing substance so as to appreciably impair his mental or physical faculties or both? A: Yes, I did. Q: What was that opinion? A: It was my opinion that the defendant had consumed a sufficient quantity of an impairing substance so that his mental and physical faculties were both appreciably impaired. Q: Did you have an opinion as to what the impairing substance was? A: I believed it to be some type of alcohol. This line of questioning is as proper as it is prevalent. North Carolina’s courts have long held that a lay witness who has personally observed a person may express an opinion as to whether the person was impaired by an impairing substance. See State v. Lindley, 286 N.C. 255 (1974). Though officers frequently base such opinions in part upon their training and experience regarding the physical manifestations of having consumed alcohol or some other impairing substance in addition to their personal observations, courts have considered such opinions to be those of a lay rather than an expert witness. See id. Perhaps because the question is so ubiquitous, it has taken on [...]
Faculty Coordinators
