{"id":574389,"date":"2026-05-26T10:00:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T14:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dannygloverlawfirm.com\/blog\/?p=574389"},"modified":"2026-05-07T10:24:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T14:24:20","slug":"substitute-expert-testimony-nc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dannygloverlawfirm.com\/blog\/substitute-expert-testimony-nc\/","title":{"rendered":"Substitute Expert Testimony | Confrontation Clause in North Carolina"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div class=\"standard-markdown grid-cols-1 grid [&amp;_&gt;_*]:min-w-0 gap-3\">The Sixth Amendment guarantees the accused (the defendant in criminal charges) the right to be confronted with the witnesses against them. That right is not always satisfied by merely cross-examining a substitute analyst or expert witness. Under <em>Crawford v. Washington<\/em>, 541 U.S. 36 (2004), testimonial hearsay may be inadmissible against the accused unless the declarant is unavailable and the defense had a prior opportunity for cross-examination.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"standard-markdown grid-cols-1 grid [&amp;_&gt;_*]:min-w-0 gap-3\">Under Smith v. Arizona, 602 U.S. 779 (2024), an absent analyst\u2019s statements offered in support of a testifying expert\u2019s opinion are offered for their truth when the opinion works only if those statements are true.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"standard-markdown grid-cols-1 grid [&amp;_&gt;_*]:min-w-0 gap-3\">The North Carolina Court of Appeals addressed related confrontation issues in <em>State v. Phillips<\/em>, COA25-864 (N.C. Ct. App. May 6, 2026), a published decision involving Confrontation Clause, hearsay, surrogate witness, expert testimony, testimonial evidence, improper vouching testimony, and Rule 701 questions.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"read_more_link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dannygloverlawfirm.com\/blog\/substitute-expert-testimony-nc\/\"  title=\"Continue Reading Substitute Expert Testimony | Confrontation Clause in North Carolina\" class=\"more-link\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Sixth Amendment guarantees the accused (the defendant in criminal charges) the right to be confronted with the witnesses against them. That right is not always satisfied by merely cross-examining a substitute analyst or expert witness. Under Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004), testimonial hearsay may be inadmissible against the accused unless the declarant [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":574394,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[671,677,672,659,675,668,662,670,658,665,669,663,664,674,678,269,660,467,667,673,661,676,657,656,666],"class_list":["post-574389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-criminal-charges","tag-blood-test-evidence","tag-bullcoming-v-new-mexico","tag-chemical-analysis","tag-confrontation-clause","tag-crawford-v-washington","tag-criminal-trial-evidence","tag-cross-examination","tag-drug-analysis-reports","tag-expert-opinion-challenges","tag-expert-witness-testimony","tag-forensic-analyst","tag-forensic-evidence","tag-lab-reports","tag-medical-records-evidence","tag-melendez-diaz","tag-north-carolina-criminal-defense","tag-north-carolina-evidence-law","tag-obx-criminal-defense","tag-rule-703","tag-sane-exam-evidence","tag-sixth-amendment","tag-smith-v-arizona","tag-substitute-analyst-testimony","tag-substitute-expert-testimony","tag-testimonial-hearsay"],"yoast_head":"<!-- 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