Opinion ID: 1209716
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Voiceprint Cases

Text: Our review of the applicable authorities reveals no uniform or established trend either for or against the admissibility of voiceprint evidence. Cases outside California have reached varying conclusions on the matter. (See United States v. Addison, supra, 498 F.2d 741 [disapproving the trial court's order admitting voiceprint evidence in United States v. Raymond, supra, 337 F. Supp. 641]; United States v. Baller (4th Cir.1975) 519 F.2d 463 [noting a conflict in the decisions, but upholding the trial court's discretion in admitting voiceprint evidence]; United States v. Franks (6th Cir.1975) 511 F.2d 25, 33 [same]; United States v. Sample (E.D.Pa. 1974) 378 F. Supp. 44 [refusing to follow Frye test for use in probation revocation hearing]; Worley v. State (Fla.Ct.App. 1972) 263 So.2d 613 [admitting voiceprint evidence]; Commonwealth v. Lykus (Mass. 1975) 327 N.E.2d 671 [same]; State ex rel. Trimble v. Hedman (1971) 291 Minn. 442 [192 N.W.2d 432] [voiceprint evidence admissible at preliminary, probable cause hearing]; State v. Andretta (1972) 61 N.J. 544 [296 A.2d 644] [leaving question open]; State v. Olderman (1975) 44 Ohio App.2d 130 [73 Ohio Ops.2d 129, 336 N.E.2d 442] [voiceprint evidence admissible when properly qualified]; see also Annot. 49 A.L.R.3d 915.) On the one hand, in Addison the federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia disapproved the lower court's admission of voiceprint evidence in Raymond, a case relied upon by the trial court herein. Significantly, Addison/Raymond also involved the sufficiency of Lieutenant Nash's testimony regarding the voiceprint technique. Addison reviewed the record and concluded that Raymond erred in relying upon Nash's testimony as proof of general acceptance by the scientific community: [T]he District Court [in Raymond ] focused more on the reliability of Lieutenant Nash's conclusion than on the general acceptance of his technique within the scientific community. ( United States v. Addison, supra, 498 F.2d 741, at p. 744.) On the other hand, several other courts have held that, based upon the particular record before them, voiceprint evidence may be introduced at the discretion of the trial court. Many of these cases also involved an appraisal of the testimony of Lieutenant Nash, one of the leading proponents of the voiceprint technique. For example, in Lykus, supra, a majority of the Massachusetts Supreme Court affirmed a conviction based on voiceprint testimony. The court acknowledged that While some scientists have written in approval [of the voiceprint technique], others appear from their writings to have serious reservations as to the issue of admissibility. (327 N.E.2d at pp. 675-676.) Nevertheless, despite the lack of unanimity among the scientists, the majority in Lykus concluded that the Frye test had been met. The court emphasized that the trial court had conducted a lengthy and comprehensive preliminary hearing on the admissibility issue. Among the witnesses were Lieutenant Nash and Dr. Oscar Tosi, a professor of audiology, speech sciences and physics, who had conducted a two-year study (1968-1970) of the voiceprint technique at Michigan State University; the trial court also considered numerous scientific writings on the subject. (P. 676.) The dissenting opinion in Lykus noted the existence in the record of a substantial body of opposition in the scientific community to the voiceprint technique, and concluded that the existence of such opposition would preclude a finding of general acceptance. (Pp. 679-683.) The California cases likewise have reached varying conclusions. In 1968, in People v. King, supra, 266 Cal. App.2d 437 (hg. den.), the Court of Appeal reversed a conviction based in part upon voiceprint testimony by Lawrence Kersta, one of the pioneers in the field. King reviewed in detail the nature of the voiceprint technique, and of Kersta's qualifications and testimony, as well as the testimony of various defense experts. The court in King concluded that It appears that Kersta's claims for the accuracy of the `voiceprint' process are founded on theories and conclusions which are not yet substantiated by accepted methods of scientific verification. His engineering background does not supply this deficiency. (P. 456.) The court emphasized that an understanding of speech communication requires a knowledge of anatomy, physiology, physics, psychology and linguistics. It requires a knowledge of points of view and methods of investigation of several disciplines. Absent other methods of verification, or general acceptance by the scientific community or independent experts, a court could only receive Kersta's opinion on faith. ( Id., fn. omitted, italics added.) King concluded that Kersta's testimony, being based upon his opinion alone without general acceptance within the scientific community compels us to rule `voiceprint' identification process has not reached a sufficient level of scientific certainty to be accepted as identification evidence in cases where the life or liberty of a defendant may be at stake. (P. 460.) In 1973, a contrary conclusion was reached in Hodo v. Superior Court, supra, 30 Cal. App.3d 778. The question before the Hodo court was whether voiceprint testimony was admissible against defendant at a preliminary examination held to establish probable cause to hold defendant on bribery charges. The court reviewed the testimony offered by the prosecution, and concluded that ... the record in the instant case indicates that since King voiceprint identification has received general acceptance by recognized experts in the field who would be expected to be familiar with its use and has therefore reached the standard of scientific acceptance and reliability necessary for its admissibility into evidence. (Pp. 790-791.) In Hodo, the prosecution introduced the expert testimony of both Lieutenant Nash and Dr. Oscar Tosi, referred to above, whose 1968-1970 voiceprint study indicated a high degree of reliability for the technique. Hodo also relied upon cases from other jurisdictions which had admitted voiceprint testimony, including the Raymond decision, supra, later disapproved on appeal in Addison, supra . Since Hodo did not directly involve the admissibility of voiceprint evidence at trial, the case is not directly on point herein. Moreover, we may take judicial notice of the fact, disclosed by the trial record in Hodo, that when the defendant was subsequently brought to trial, the defense introduced the testimony of Dr. Peter Ladefoged to refute the prosecution's claim that voiceprint analysis had achieved general acceptance in the scientific community. On the basis of Ladefoged's testimony, the trial court excluded the voiceprint testimony at trial. Subsequently, in 1974, the Court of Appeal in People v. Law, supra, 40 Cal. App.3d 69, reaffirmed the King position, and held that voiceprint testimony was inadmissible in the situation before it, namely, an attempt to identify a disguised or mimicked voice. The court reviewed the testimony of Doctors Tosi and Ladefoged, and Lieutenant Nash, as well as certain relevant scientific articles (listed at pp. 81-83 of the opn.) and concluded that, ... with respect to disguised and mimicked voices in particular, the prosecution did not carry its burden of proof to demonstrate that the scientific principles pertaining to spectrographic identification were beyond the experimental and into the demonstrable stage or that the procedure was sufficiently established to have gained general acceptance in the particular scientific field in which it belongs. [Citation.] (P. 84.) (5) The foregoing review of cases from California and other jurisdictions satisfies us that the admissibility of voiceprint testimony remains unresolved. Certainly these cases do not establish, as a matter of law, the reliability of the voiceprint technique. (6) Moreover, amici have cited a number of scientific and legal articles containing differing forms of opposition to the admissibility of voiceprint evidence. Such writings may be considered by courts in evaluating the reliability of new scientific methodology. (See Huntingdon v. Crowley, supra, 64 Cal.2d at p. 656; People v. Law, supra, 40 Cal. App.3d at pp. 75-83; United States v. Addison, supra, 498 F.2d at pp. 744-745.) Some of the voiceprint literature is considered in such recent cases as People v. Law, supra, at pages 81-83, and Commonwealth v. Lykus, supra, 327 N.E.2d at pages 675-682. No useful purpose would be served by an extended discussion of it. We make specific note, however, of a recent article submitted to us by the Attorney General, in which Dr. Tosi observes that Possibly, no combination of [voiceprint] methods may ever produce absolutely positive identification or eliminations in 100% of the cases submitted, and that the reliability of the voiceprint technique may vary depending upon such factors as the quality and extension of available voice samples, the qualifications of the examiner, and the comprehensiveness of the methods used. Dr. Tosi also notes the need for continuing research and practical forensic experience in this area. (Tosi, The Problem of Speaker Identification and Elimination, in Measurement Procedures in Speech, Language and Hearing (Singh edit. 1975) pp. 428-429.)