Opinion ID: 384664
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Tape Recordings, Use of Transcripts

Text: 5 Appellant first argues the district court erred in admitting two tape recordings into evidence. The government introduced a tape recording of the March 9, 1980, conversation (Plaintiff's Exhibit # 7) and a processed version 2 of the same tape (Plaintiff's Exhibit # 11). Copies of the transcript prepared by agent Stumpenhaus from the tape were passed to the jury at the time the tapes were played. Appellant argues that agent Stumpenhaus failed to properly identify the speakers on the tape and thus failed to establish a proper foundation 3 for the introduction of the tape. We disagree. 6 The standard for the admissibility of an opinion as to the identity of a speaker is merely that the identifier has heard the voice of the alleged speaker at any time. United States v. Rizzo, 492 F.2d 443, 448 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 417 U.S. 944, 94 S.Ct. 3069, 41 L.Ed.2d 665 (1974); accord, United States v. Kirk, 534 F.2d 1262, 1277 (8th Cir. 1976), cert. denied, 433 U.S. 907, 97 S.Ct. 2971, 53 L.Ed.2d 1091 (1977); United States v. McMillan, 508 F.2d 101, 105 (8th Cir. 1974), cert. denied, 421 U.S. 916, 95 S.Ct. 1577, 43 L.Ed.2d 782 (1975). Here, agent Stumpenhaus testified in great detail about the conversation of March 9, 1980, and about the circumstances surrounding the tape recording and expressly testified that he was able to identify the speakers on the tape. Agent Stumpenhaus also testified that he had heard Friend's voice several times and appellant's voice twice before he prepared the transcript from the March 9, 1980, tape recording. Agent Stumpenhaus was the undercover officer who directly participated in the March 9, 1980, conversation. We conclude that the record in the present case clearly meets the standard for voice identification and thus a proper foundation for the introduction of the tape recordings was established. 7 Appellant stresses that agent Stumpenhaus was not an expert in voice identification and that the audio quality of the tape recording, even after processing, was poor. We note, however, that the accuracy of the agent's voice identification is a question for the jury. See United States v. Kirk, supra, 534 F.2d at 1277. Appellant did testify in the present case and the jury thus had ample opportunity to compare appellant's voice with the tape recording and to evaluate the accuracy of the agent's voice identification. 8 Appellant further argues that the district court failed to instruct the jury that differences in meaning may be caused by such factors as the inflection in a speaker's voice or inaccuracies in the transcript and that they should, therefore, rely on what they hear rather than on what they read when there is a difference, citing to United States v. McMillan, supra, 508 F.2d at 106. Appellant did not object to the cautionary instruction given by the district court or request a more specific instruction at the time the transcripts were distributed and the tape recordings were played. Appellant thus failed to properly preserve this question for review. Had appellant properly preserved the question for review, however, we would have found appellant's argument to be without merit. The record indicates that the district court repeatedly admonished the jury that the transcripts were not evidence, 4 that only the tape recordings constituted the evidence, and that what was heard and understood from the tape recordings was the only evidence they were to consider. See, e. g., United States v. John, 508 F.2d 1134, 1141 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 421 U.S. 962, 95 S.Ct. 1948, 44 L.Ed.2d 448 (1975). In the final instructions to the jury, the district court expressly stated that any differences were to be resolved solely by consideration of the tape recordings.