State v. Teesateskie, ___ N.C. App. ___, 2021-NCCOA-409 (Aug. 3, 2021)

In this Graham County case, the defendant was convicted of felony death by vehicle and driving while impaired after she drove off the road and killed her passenger. Though first responders did not initially think the defendant had ingested any impairing substance, the Highway Patrol suspected impairment. A blood sample revealed the presence of Xanax, Citalopram, and Lamotrigine, but was inconclusive as to Hydrocodone, which the blood analyst testified could have been masked by the Lamotrigine, metabolized, or present in too small a quantity to be measured. (1) On appeal, the defendant argued that the trial court erred by denying her motion to dismiss based on insufficient evidence of impairment to support her charge of DWI, and, in turn, her charge of felony death by motor vehicle. The Court of Appeals disagreed. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, and allowing the State every reasonable inference arising from the evidence, the court concluded that there was sufficient evidence of impairment, including the results from standardized field sobriety tests, the defendant’s statement that she had consumed alcohol and Hydrocodone, and the opinion of the Highway Patrol’s drug recognition expert. The defendant’s conflicting evidence—including that the accident occurred at night on a curvy mountain road and that her weight and diabetes affected the results of her sobriety tests—did not allow the trial court to grant a motion to dismiss, because conflicting evidence is for the jury to resolve.

(2) The defendant also argued on appeal that the trial court should not have allowed the State’s expert to testify as to possible reasons why Hydrocodone did not show up in the defendant’s blood test, because that testimony violated Rule 702 in that it was not based on scientific or technical knowledge, was impermissibly based on unreliable principles and methods, and was prejudicial due to the stigma associated with Hydrocodone on account of the opioid crisis. The Court of Appeals concluded that even if the issue was properly preserved for appeal, and even if the admission of the expert’s statement was an abuse of discretion in violation of Rule 702, it was not prejudicial given the defendant’s admission that she took 20 mg of Hydrocodone approximately one hour and fifteen minutes before the accident.