State v. Godwin, 369 N.C. 604 (Jun. 9, 2017)

Reversing the Court of Appeals, the court held that Evidence Rule 702(a1) does not require the trial court to explicitly recognize a law enforcement officer as an expert witness pursuant to Rule 702(a) before he can testify to the results of a HGN test. Rather, the court noted, prior case law establishes that an implicit finding will suffice. Reviewing the record before it, the court found that here, by overruling the defendant’s objection to the witness’s testimony, the trial court implicitly found that the officer was qualified to testify as an expert. The court noted however that its ability to review the trial court’s decision “would have benefited from the inclusion of additional facts supporting its determination” that the officer was qualified to testify as an expert.