Opinion ID: 722562
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Transcripts of Tape-Recorded Conversations

Text: 69 Defendants argue that the district court erred in admitting transcripts of 50 tape-recorded conversations into evidence. They contend that while some of the conversations were clearly audible, others were unintelligible to the listener and would not have been understandable except for the transcripts which accompanied the tapes. 70 Review of decisions to admit transcripts is under an abuse of discretion standard. United States v. West, 948 F.2d 1042, 1044 (6th Cir.1991), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 1109, 112 S.Ct. 1209, 117 L.Ed.2d 447 (1992). In the present case, the district court followed the guidelines provided by this court in United States v. Robinson, 707 F.2d 872, 876-78 (6th Cir.1983) and set forth a schedule allowing defense counsel to review the tapes and transcripts and to file objections concerning accuracy. No objections were made. Before playing the tapes, the district court advised the jury that the transcripts were not evidence, but were being provided to the jury only as a guide to help them follow what was being said on the tapes. The court emphasized the tapes were the evidence, and if the jury noticed any discrepancies, they were to rely on the tapes and disregard the transcripts. He repeated this instruction in his final charge to the jury. The district court did not abuse its discretion in allowing transcripts to be used as aids to the jury when listening to tape recorded conversations in light of his limiting instructions. Once admitted, transcripts may be used by the jury during the playing of tape recordings at trial and during jury deliberations after the case has been submitted. See United States v. West, 948 F.2d at 1044.