Abruquah v. State

Summary

The court held that the firearms-identification methodology presented at trial could reliably support opinions that crime-scene bullets and fragments were consistent or inconsistent with bullets fired from a particular firearm, but could not reliably support an unqualified opinion that they were fired from the defendant's firearm. The circuit court therefore abused its discretion by admitting the examiner's unqualified identification testimony. Because that testimony was the only direct evidence linking the defendant's gun to the crime and the State could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the error did not influence the verdict, the convictions were vacated and the case was remanded for a new trial.