Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
Table of Contents
Criminal Procedure
Indictment & Pleading Issues
Arrest, Search, and Investigation
Criminal Offenses
Drug Offenses
State v. Coleman, ___ N.C. App. ___, 803 S.E.2d 820 (Jul. 18, 2017)
In this homicide case, the trial court did not err by allowing the State to question the defendant’s expert witness on automatism regarding the amount of fees he received for testifying in other, unrelated criminal cases. The challenged evidence was relevant to “test partiality towards the party by whom the expert was called.” It explained: “From the large sums of money that [the defendant]’s expert earned by testifying solely on behalf of criminal defendants, a reasonable jury could infer that the expert had an incentive to render opinions favorable to the criminal defendants who employ him.”