On June 4, 2019, the North Carolina Court of Appeals published two new opinions relevant to our clients.

In Patterson v. Worley (18-977 – Published)(available here: https://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=2&pdf=37875, a pedestrian ran into the street, cutting between vehicles, and sued a car that hit her. The trial court dismissed the case, and the plaintiff appealed. The Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal as a matter of law. We see that even with zero liability, as a matter of law, attorneys still file such lawsuits, and appeal them, costing years and defense dollars.

State v. Denton (18-742 – Published)(available here: https://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=2&pdf=37911) is a criminal case addressing admissibility of expert witness testimony on accident reconstruction, a significant issue in auto liability litigation. The Court reinforced Rule of Evidence 702, holding the testimony given was actually expert testimony, and judge that way, was clearly inadmissible.

Our clients rely upon us to stay current with these subjects. If you have a question, please reach Pope Aylward Sweeney Stephenson, LLP at www.passlawyers.com