In 2006, the General Assembly amended G.S. § 20-197(a) to take the determination of aggravating factors out of the hands of the trial judge and place that determination in the hands of the jury. Thereafter, in State v. Geisslererain, 233 N.C. App. 186, 756 S.E.2d 92 (2014), we held that the trial court committed reversible
Even though the prosecution’s chemist relied upon raw data generated by other SBI analysts, the testifying chemist conducted his own independent analysis of the data in accordance with SBI procedures and methodology. An expert may base his opinion on the research of another analyst provided the expert performs his own independent analysis of the research. .