Query Details
| Query Subject: |
query- speaker recognition in audio tapes given in evidence
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| Author: | Fay Wouk |
| Submitter Email: | click here to access email |
| Query: |
I have been approached by a local law firm for assistance in a cour case, but do not have the expertise required. They came to me because I do conversation analysis, but this is really something different, although it does relate to recorded conversation. The situation is as follows: police witnesses are making claims abou the identity of speakers for individual turns on an audio tape being used as evidence. The law firm feels that the assignment of speakers to turns is being done in an arbitrary fashion, and doubts its accuracy. It is, of course, crucial to the case to know who said what. They would like an expert witness who could say why the accuracy is questionable. While I know from personal experience tha it can be difficult to identify the speaker of certain turns in multi-party conversation, they want actual scientific explanations for why impressionistic identity assignment might be a problem, and how one can accurately assign identity. (I have not yet listened to their tapes, but will have an opportunity to do so.) If anyone has any experience with such matters, or knows of any published material relating to it, or has any ideas about how to go about doing this, please contact me. If you think you might be able to help, but you're still not really sure what I'm asking, or need more detail, please contact me with clarification questions. Time is of the essence - the case is already in trial, so please respond as soon as you possibly can. If there is interest in the topic, I will post a summary to the list. thanks, Fay - Fay Wouk Senior Lecturer in Linguistics Department of Applied Language Studies and Linguistics University of Auckland Private Bag 92019 Auckland New Zealand f.wouk@auckland.ac.nz |
