Officially Out!
The long awaited ruling from Judge Nelson on whether the prosecution could use their "voice experts" as evidence finally appeared this morning. Following is an synoptic excerpt from the court's ruling:
The Defendant filed a "Motion for Evidentiary Hearing Regarding Admissibility of Expert Opinion Testimony" seeking to exclude the opinions of the State's experts on the basis that the techniques applied are not generally accepted in the scientific community.....
....The State presented testimony from Dr. Alan Reich and Mr. Thomas Owen.....
....Mr. Owen used software called "Easy Voice," a software program he markets and in which he has a small financial interest.....Easy Voice recommends a sample length of 16 seconds to conduct its analysis. Mr. Owen only isolated seven seconds of screams from the 911 call. The seven second sample was rejected by the Easy Voice software program. To correct this problem, he ran the seven second sample twice...[Owen actually testified to this!]...Based upon conversations with sales representatives for the software manufacturer, he believed looping was an appropriate solution.
....Dr. Reich testified that he was able to hear words on both calls that have not been heard by any other witness....
....There is no competent evidence that the scientific techniques used by Mr. Owen and Dr. Reich are generally accepted in the scientific field. There is no evidence to establish that their scientific techniques have been tested and found reliable....
....The scientific methodologies and techniques used by Mr. Owen and Dr. Reich are not reliable as they are not Sufficiently established and not generally accepted in the scientific community.....
....The State failed to carry its burden....
....The Court notes that Dr. Reich issued at least two reports on his findings in this case, one for a newspaper and one for the State. The testimony presented to the Court indicated there are significant differences between the two reports as to what Dr. Reich heard in the recorded calls.....
....The Court finds that Dr. Reich's testimony regarding the amplified tapes would confuse issues, mislead the jury and, therefore, should be excluded from trial....
....The opinion testimony of Mr. Owen and Dr. Reich are hereby excluded from trial....
One definite outcome of this trial will most assuredly be a manic shuffling of curricula vitae.
-fl