Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
Table of Contents
Criminal Procedure
Indictment & Pleading Issues
Arrest, Search, and Investigation
Criminal Offenses
Drug Offenses
State v. Larkin, 237 N.C. App. 335 (Nov. 18, 2014)
In a burglary and felony larceny case, an officer properly offered lay opinion testimony regarding a shoeprint found near the scene. The court found that the shoeprint evidence satisfied the Palmer “triple inference” test:
[E]vidence of shoeprints has no legitimate or logical tendency to identify an accused as the perpetrator of a crime unless the attendant circumstances support this triple inference: (1) that the shoeprints were found at or near the place of the crime; (2) that the shoeprints were made at the time of the crime; and (3) that the shoeprints correspond to shoes worn by the accused at the time of the crime.