06-08-2013, 09:19 AM
Pre-trial hearings continue to today.
911 Screams - Voice Recognition Experts - Decision still pending
Attorneys in the George Zimmerman second-degree murder case will return to court this morning to continue a hearing on whether jurors will hear testimony about who was heard screaming in the background of a 911 call before Trayvon Martin was shot.
Circuit Judge Debra Nelson has been hearing testimony on the issue since Thursday, and the defense still has three more witnesses to call. Testimony will resume 9:30 a.m.
Yesterday, the judge heard lengthy testimony from two voice identification analysts the state hopes to call as experts in Zimmerman's trial, which starts Monday.
That included the most controversial state expert: Alan R. Reich, who says it was likely Trayvon screaming in the background of the call, and claims to be able to decipher what the teen and Zimmerman were saying.
Reich reiterated that "the words that were at a scream level were almost all" Trayvon, but also testified that his results shouldn't be treated as conclusive, due to the low quality of the audio.
In a report he prepared on the case, Reich said that he could hear Trayvon cry out "I'm begging you" in the background of the call, and shout "stop" just before the fatal shot was fired.
Before Reich, Nelson heard from Tom Owen, a New Jersey based voice expert who analyzed the 911 audio for the Orlando Sentinel last year, ruling out Zimmerman as the voice in the call.
Owen cautioned that his findings were only "probable," and also admitted on cross examination that he has a financial stake in the software he used to analyze the recording.
Nelson still has to rule on whether Owen and Reich and meet the burden to testify for the state in Zimmerman's trial, which starts with jury selection on Monday. The defense argues they're using unproven methods to reach their conclusions.
Full story:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/loca...4051.story
911 Screams - Voice Recognition Experts - Decision still pending
Attorneys in the George Zimmerman second-degree murder case will return to court this morning to continue a hearing on whether jurors will hear testimony about who was heard screaming in the background of a 911 call before Trayvon Martin was shot.
Circuit Judge Debra Nelson has been hearing testimony on the issue since Thursday, and the defense still has three more witnesses to call. Testimony will resume 9:30 a.m.
Yesterday, the judge heard lengthy testimony from two voice identification analysts the state hopes to call as experts in Zimmerman's trial, which starts Monday.
That included the most controversial state expert: Alan R. Reich, who says it was likely Trayvon screaming in the background of the call, and claims to be able to decipher what the teen and Zimmerman were saying.
Reich reiterated that "the words that were at a scream level were almost all" Trayvon, but also testified that his results shouldn't be treated as conclusive, due to the low quality of the audio.
In a report he prepared on the case, Reich said that he could hear Trayvon cry out "I'm begging you" in the background of the call, and shout "stop" just before the fatal shot was fired.
Before Reich, Nelson heard from Tom Owen, a New Jersey based voice expert who analyzed the 911 audio for the Orlando Sentinel last year, ruling out Zimmerman as the voice in the call.
Owen cautioned that his findings were only "probable," and also admitted on cross examination that he has a financial stake in the software he used to analyze the recording.
Nelson still has to rule on whether Owen and Reich and meet the burden to testify for the state in Zimmerman's trial, which starts with jury selection on Monday. The defense argues they're using unproven methods to reach their conclusions.
Full story:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/loca...4051.story