Opinion ID: 663385
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the trustworthiness of the tapes

Text: 14 Richard, Sr. also contends that the tapes should not have been admitted because they were not trustworthy. This argument is premised upon the fact that Cerniglia's tape recorder did not record the beginning of the conversation on Government's exhibit 13. The exact length of the unrecorded portion of the conversation was undetermined and Cerniglia admitted that it may have been as long as 20 seconds. J.A. at 54. Cerniglia did not notice that his tape recorder was off during the beginning of the conversation. Once he realized that it was, he immediately turned the recorder on. J.A. at 41. 15 In United States v. Robinson, 707 F.2d 872, 876 (6th Cir.1983), we found that in order for tapes to be admissible they must be authentic, accurate and trustworthy. A determination by the trial court that tapes are admissible is reversed only if the court has abused its discretion in so finding. United States v. Sivils, 960 F.2d 587, 597 (6th Cir.1992), cert. denied, 113 S.Ct. 130 (1992). 16 In the instant case, the trial court considered the trustworthiness of the tapes in light of the fact that up to twenty seconds of conversation were missing from the tape. The trial court also considered Rox's testimony that the tapes were an accurate reproduction of what was said. J.A. at 83. There was not a claim that the tape was inaudible or otherwise flawed. Thus, while a complete tape would certainly have been preferable, in light of the evidence we cannot say that the trial court abused its discretion in finding that the tapes were accurate and trustworthy.