CFP96 Tutorial
Morning, March 27
Falsifying Electronic (Audio/Visual) Legal Evidence: Preposterous?
Possible? or Probable? . . . And what do we do about it?
Instructors: Jordan Gruber and Tito Poza
Review from the CFP96 Newsletter
(MCLE Credit Applied For)
Audio and video recordings have come to play an increasingly prominent role
in courts of law, as shown by the striking effect of recordings in the
cases of Richard Nixon, Rodney King, Reginald Denney, and O.J. Simpson
(Mark Fuhrman). Today, not only are we faced with an ever-growing number
of significant recordings, but as digital technology continues to become
more powerful and less expensive, we are faced with a remarkable increase
in the ease and sophistication of technologies which make it possible to
edit and falsify such recordings. How has the legal system dealt with
audiovisual recordings to date, and how should it prepare to deal with such
recordings in the future? What can, and what can't, forensic audio and
video experts do? If we get to the point where it can be made to seem as
if someone has said something they haven't said, or done something they
haven't done -- and even the best forensic experts can be fooled -- then
what are the implications for using such electronic evidence in courts of
law? This tutorial will provide an overview of electronic audiovisual
evidence, including: legal standards; how and why evidence can be
falsified; how falsified electronic evidence can be detected (including a
review of the technical methods used by forensic experts); and a discussion
of the limitations of all forensic disciplines that involve "pattern
matching" in the context of voicegrams ("voiceprints").
Jordan S. Gruber, President, LexTech Consulting of Menlo Park, CA, a
research and communications firm emphasizing legal, technological, and
psychological innovation. He is author of Electronic Evidence, Thomas
Legal Publishing (1995).
Fausto "Tito" Poza is President of Poza Consulting Services, Menlo
Park, Calfiornia, and is a former Senior Research Engineer with SRI
International. He has conducted investigations in the area of speech
science and is a frequent expert witness in state and federal court on
forensic audio matters. He is co-author, together with Mr. Gruber, of
the legal encyclopedia articles "Voicegram Identification Evidence,"
and "Audiotape Recordings: Evidence, Experts, and Technology."
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Last updated November 22, 1995
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