Drug/Criminal Attorney in Bergen (Hackensack), Passaic (Paterson) and Morris (Morristown) Counties: The Use of Lay Opinions in Drug Cases

For many years, the Supreme Court in New Jersey has allowed the government to use expert witnesses in the prosecution of drug cases.  The underlying principle of that decision was that there are  many components of the drug trade that are beyond the understanding of the average citizen. Thus, in the case of State v. Odom the Supreme Court determined that a police officer, qualified as an expert witness, was allowed to testified that the drugs seized from a person was for purposes of distribution, as opposed to personal consumption. Over the years, the underlying core of the Odom case has allowed expert law enforcement agents to testify about the various methods of drug distribution and the roles played by various participants.  In March of 2011, the Supreme Court addressed the question as to whether a police officer who was not qualified as an expert could offer a lay opinion relating to a drug investigation.

In that case, the investigating police officer observed defendant engaged in a number of transactions, where another person approach defendant and participated in brief conversations. Thereafter, defendant walked into a parking lot, returned and handed the other person small objects. The police officer also  saw what appeared to be an exchange of money. As a result of these observations, the police officer made an arrest, and then searched defendant’s  vehicle where he found packages of drugs on the passenger side of the vehicle. The defendant also had $384 on his person.

The trial court allowed the investigating police officer to testify as to whether he believes the observation that he saw related to a drug transaction. The Supreme Court reversed the decision and concluded that a lay opinion under those circumstances was not acceptable. One of the reasons for the ruling was that the jury was competent to reach the same conclusion without the investigating police officer opinion.