NCJ Number
84497
Date Published
1981
Length
19 pages
Annotation
Although voice spectrogram analysis would not necessarily be excluded as scientific evidence under the Frye test, the preferable approach to determining the admissibility of purportedly scientific evidence is that given in rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence.
Abstract
The voice spectrogram analysis compares a graphic display of an unknown voice against the spectrograms of known voices to determine whether the spectrogram of the unknown speaker is so similar to a spectrogram of a known speaker as to identify the unknown speaker with the known speaker. Those courts which have concluded that voice spectrogram analysis is inadmissible as evidence have done so on the basis of a test for admissibility issued more than 50 years ago by the District of Columbia Circuit in Frye v. United States. The Frye decision states that for supposed expert evidence to be accepted as scientific, the principles underlying it 'must be sufficiently established to have gained general acceptance in the particular field in which it belongs.' If the Frye doctrine is redefined to a narrow field of experts within which the principles of the voice spectrogram are accepted, then the Frye test would permit spectrogram evidence to be admitted; however, analyzing new scientific processes under the Federal Rules of Evidence would allow a court to focus on the key issues of their relevance at trial. Rule 702 specifies that 'If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise.' Eighty footnotes are provided.