Supreme Court of Georgia
Walsh v. the State.
March 5, 2018811 S.E.2d 353
Summary
The court held that the State had to establish both the scientific reliability of the HGN test and that the officer substantially performed the test according to accepted procedures. Because the officer admitted that testing Walsh while he wore glasses substantially deviated from his training, and the trial court was entitled to reject conflicting testimony about substantial compliance, the trial court did not clearly err in suppressing the HGN evidence. The court also held that the intermediate appellate court improperly applied de novo review to a credibility-dependent suppression ruling.