Defense counsel listened to the State's tape-recordings of the drug transactions before trial, and she was also given a tape that contained both transactions. At trial, defense counsel stated that the tapes played in court were much clearer than those she had heard before trial, and she asked that the jury be told to disregard them. The tapes were compared outside the presence of the jury, and the judge stated that there was little difference between the two sets of tapes. A determination of the admissibility of evidence is within the trial court's sound discretion, and should not be disturbed on appeal unless an abuse of discretion is clearly shown. After listening to the State's tapes as well as the copy of the tape that had been provided to the defendant, we conclude, as did the trial court, that the tapes are substantially the same.
Nothing indicates that the tapes have been tampered with.
As the trial court noted, some words are more distinguishable on the tapes the State introduced at trial, and other words are more distinguishable on the tape provided to the defendant before trial. Likewise, during the suppression hearing, defense counsel stated that her objection was based solely on the fact that the tape that was provided to her did not portray exactly what she heard on the State's tapes of the same transactions. While Woods's attorney wanted the judge to instruct the jury to disregard the State's tape exhibits, the judge found that Woods's attorney had been given an opportunity to listen to the State's tapes and that she had listened to those tapes introduced as State's Exhibits 1 and 4. The judge also noted that, while he could hear some things more clearly on the State's tapes, other portions of the conversations were more easily understood on the defendant's tape. Woods showed no abuse of discretion in the trial judge's decision to admit the tapes and, absent such a showing, they were properly admitted.