Opinion ID: 2449939
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Tape recordings and transcriptions

Text: Appellant argues that the trial court erred in refusing to dismiss the two tape recordings that were the subject of the aforementioned suppression hearing and the transcripts of those statements when they were offered at trial. At trial, Officer Brewer identified the original tape recording of the April 10 statement, which was introduced into evidence, without objection, and played for the jury. Over appellant's objection, the trial court instructed the jury that they would be permitted to have a transcription of the recording to aid in understanding the recording and that, if any discrepancies were noted, they must consider only the tape recording as it was the evidence and the transcription was just an aid. The transcription was not admitted into evidence. After the tape recording was played, the secretary who prepared the transcription testified that, at the beginning of the transcript, she had typed April 12 as the date of the interview. The secretary testified that that date had been changed in ink by someone else to read April 10. The secretary testified that, without listening to the tape, she did not know if the date she had typed was a typographical error or not. Appellant moved to strike the April 10 statement on the ground that it was taken with the knowledge that counsel had been appointed to represent him and had not been informed of the interview. The trial court denied the motion to strike, stating that the discrepancy in the date had previously been addressed at the suppression hearing and that Officer Brewer had there testified that, when he noticed the clerical error on the transcription, he had manually corrected it so that it stated the correct date of the recorded statement, which was April 10. The trial court stated that if the recording itself stated that the interview occurred on April 12, then appellant would be heard further. The state then conceded that the disputed date was not a part of the recording. On cross-examination, Officer Brewer testified that the statement of the date was not on the tape, that whoever typed the transcript put it there, that he had manually changed the date from April 12 to April 10, and that the interview recorded was that conducted on April 10, 4:15 p.m. Appellant did not renew his motion to strike. We observe that, at the hearing on the motion to suppress the April 10 and April 11 recorded statements, Officer Simmons stated that he never interviewed appellant after the April 11 probable-cause proceeding. The transcription of the challenged recording, as noted, was never admitted into evidence. On this record, we do not find that appellant has demonstrated as clearly erroneous the trial court's finding that the April 12 date in the transcription was a simple clerical error. Therefore, the trial court did not err in denying the motion to strike the recording of the April 10 statement. Appellant argues that the April 11 tape recording and its transcription, which was prepared by a different secretary, should have been dismissed due to the possibility of taint. This argument, which is based upon a false premise, is clearly without merit.