Additional background information on Monday afternoon's audio-expert hearing - known as a "Frye" hearing.
A WHAT hearing?
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Here's what you need to know: A Frye hearing investigates the technique behind scientific evidence either party wants to introduce at trial. Is the methodology "generally accepted" by the scientific community, or is it "new and novel"?
In this case they are focused on a 911 call made by a woman the night of the shooting where you can hear screaming in the background.
Here is the important distinction: The Judge is not concerned with the conclusions by various audio experts, (i.e. it was George Zimmerman crying for help or it was Trayvon Martin crying for help), but rather the procedures and methodology they employed to reach their conclusion. Once again, is the scientific technique "generally accepted" or "new and novel"?
NOTE: An FBI speech scientist has already said their technology could not identify whose voice it was crying for help that rainy night.
The most controversial audio expert of the bunch is: Alan Reich – hired by the state who not only claimed in a May 9th report that the voice crying for help was definitely Martin – but goes as far to say that he can hear Martin saying "I'm begging you" and Zimmerman making a "seemingly religious proclamation, ‘These shall be'. His speech is characterized by the low pitch and exaggerated pitch contour reminiscent of an evangelical preacher or carnival barker." His findings are extremely damaging to the defense which is why they are working hard to undermine the technique he used to make his finding. Expect to hear more about this on Monday.
READ: Speaker identification | Reich report |