Howerton v. Arai Helmet6/17/2003
c and conservative approach. See, e.g., Pennington, 327 N.C. at 98, 393 S.E.2d at 852 (noting that North Carolina courts "do not adhere exclusively to the [Frye] formula . . . that the method of proof `must be sufficiently established to have gained general acceptance in the particular field in which it belongs.'" Rather, the Pennington Court, in analyzing North Carolina precedent, believed that "the inquiry underlying the Frye formula is one of the reliability of the scientific method rather than its popularity within a scientific community.").
Because North Carolina arrived at the "reliability" principle prior to Daubert, the Supreme Court of North Carolina, as well as this Court, struggled to articulate a flexible set of inquires to guide trial courts in their gatekeeping function. For instance, in Bullard, Justice Frye explained that expert foot print testimony was admissible because (1) the expert used established techniques, (2) the expert had a strong professional background and qualifications, (3) the expert used visual aids so that the jury was not required to accept the scientific hypotheses on faith, and (4) because of independent research conducted by the expert. Bullard, 312 N.C. at 150-51, 322 S.E.2d at 382. In Pennington, which was also decided before Daubert, our Supreme Court followed the Bullard precedent, and inquiries, in holding that the "reliability of the DNA profiling process" was sufficient to merit admissibility. Pennington, 327 N.C. at 100, 393 S.E.2d at 854.
After the United States Supreme Court announced Daubert, however, our appellate courts essentially stopped developing and refining the Bullard inquiries. Instead, North Carolina courts simply began to cite Daubert as precedent. See, e.g., Goode, 341 N.C. at 527, 461 S.E.2d at 639. From the time Justice Orr relied on Daubert in Goode, this Court has relied upon Daubert on fourteen occasions. See, e.g., Leatherwood v. Ehlinger, 151 N.C. App. 15, 23-24, 564 S.E.2d 883, 889 (2002) ("Implicit in the rules governing the admissibility of an expert's opinion is a precondition that the matters or data upon which the expert bases his opinion be recognized as sufficiently reliable and relevant by the scientific community."); State v. Holland, 150 N.C. App. 457, 463, 566 S.E.2d 90, 93 (2002) (" here the principles underlying expert testimony on handwriting analysis had been repeatedly recognized as reliable and admissible, the trial court was not required to launch into a full analysis of the reliability of its underlying principles."); State v. Stokes, 150 N.C. App. 211, 225, 565 S.E.2d 196, 206 (2002) ("The trial court has the duty to act as gatekeeper and to insure that expert opinion is properly founded on scientifically reliable methodology."); Walter v. Walter, 149 N.C. App. 723, 733, 561 S.E.2d 571, 578 (2002) (quoting language in Goode, supra); Taylor v. Abernethy, 149 N.C. App. 263, 272-73, 560 S.E.2d 233, 239 (2002) ("In its role as gatekeeper, the pertinent question for the trial court is not whether the matters to which the expert will testify are scientifically proven, but simply whether the testimony is sufficiently reliable."); State v. Berry, 143 N.C. App. 187, 203, 546 S.E.2d 145, 156 (2001) (quoting language in Goode, supra); State v. Davis, 142 N.C. App. 81, 90, 542 S.E.2d 236, 241 (2001) (noting "Daubert . . . discuss the need for the `reliability' factors to be flexible"); State v. Bates, 140 N.C. App. 743, 748, 538 S.E.2d 597, 600 (2000) (noting that Daubert was adopted by Goode); State v. Underwood, 134 N.C. App. 533, 542, 518 S.E.2d 231, 239 (1999) (noting that North Carlina has "adopted factors similar to those of Daubert"); State v. Cardwell, 133 N.C. App. 496, 505, 516 S.E.2d 388, 395 (1999) (relying on
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