Opinion ID: 196811
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Tapes' Audibility

Text: 54 Lastly, as to Appellant's audibility argument, in exercising its broad discretion in ruling on the admissibility of tape recordings, even where portions are unintelligible, Font-Ramirez, 944 F.2d at 47, the district court must decide whether 'the inaudible parts are so substantial as to make the rest more misleading than helpful.'  Id. (citations omitted) (quoting Gorin v. United States, 313 F.2d 641, 652 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 374 U.S. 829, 83 S.Ct. 1870, 10 L.Ed.2d 1052 (1963)). While the district court found that there were segments of poor audio and static, the district court nonetheless decided to admit them. The district court was swayed by the fact that the parties stipulated to the accuracy of the transcript as a true recording of the tapes. 23 We are similarly swayed and find no abuse of the court's broad discretion, even as to the March 1, 1994, tape about which the district court was most concerned. Based on our review of the transcript, 24 we disagree with Appellant's claim that the inaudible parts, when taken as a whole, were so substantial as to make the rest more misleading than helpful, because the transcript clearly evidences that sufficient portions of the tapes, including statements by both Schaller and Appellant, are audible. As discussed earlier, these segments are relevant because they include, inter alia, admissions by Appellant, tending to show consciousness of guilt and corroborate trial testimony. Furthermore, the district court gave a cautionary instruction to the jury that not only informed them that the tapes, but not the transcript, were evidence, but also that the jurors had to draw their own conclusions regarding their content and probative value based on what they themselves heard on the tapes. 25 United States v. Carbone, 798 F.2d 21, 26 (1st Cir.1986) (finding that the judge's handling of the transcript was in accord with the law where the record shows that the judge carefully instructed the jurors that the tapes, not the transcripts, were evidence and that any differences between the two must be resolved in favor of what was heard on the recording). Based on the record, and particularly in light of Appellant's stipulation to the accuracy of the transcript as a true recording of the tapes, we find no abuse of discretion by the district court in admitting the tapes over Appellant's audibility objection.