VOICE
STRESS ANALYSIS IN THE PUBLIC DEFENDER
CONTEXT
A paper
presented to the International Society of Stress Analysts by
A. F. Starewich
Audio Stress Analyst
Introduction:
The American System of justice is founded on an adversarial balance
between the prosecution and defense. A main component and assumption of this
system
is that the accused is innocent until proven guilty. Further, the accused has a
right to a
fair and impartial trial which includes an adequate defense.
PUBLIC
DEFENSE
A
cornerstone in maintaining the principal that the accused obtain fair trial
includes adequate defense. Our modern
system of justice provides the indigent defendant with an attorney appointed by
the court if he or she cannot afford
one. In larger municipalities, the Public Defender's Office may have a well
funded and staffed office which includes
attorneys, investigators and clerical staff. Smaller municipalities do not fare
as well. Many small communities have
little or no budget for Public Defense, particularly where technical experts and
investigators are needed to provide
a proper defense for the accused.
Recent
criminal trials have boldly displayed the benefit of extensive financial
resources in the outcome of a verdict. The
imperfection of the system became starkly apparent to the en tire nation.
For decades, it has been the outcry of the
underdog that there are two systems of justice. one for the rich, and one for
the poor. Altruistically, the Public
Defender's Office should provide the same excellence of personnel and
resources as the Prosecutor's Office. Any
experienced professional involved in the criminal justice system knows this is,
at most, is an idealistic, but unrealistic
notion. In many cases, the Public Defender's Office had been relegated to
function as a deal maker or plea bargain office.
In the worst case scenario, the Public Defender may simply be an arm of the
Prosecutor's office in expediting the indigent
accused through the Criminal Justice System while maintaining the semblance of
justice for all.
Through
checks and balances, the accused is provided with many protections. Arrests
should not be made without
probable cause. Arraignments, pretrial hearings, discovery, etc., provide
further checks and balances that the citizen
has not been wrongfully accused and / or indicted. Countless surveys have
determined that the public believes
that most citizens that have been arrested for a crime are probably guilty.
This, of course, displays basic faith in our
criminal justice system. Statistically, their beliefs are probably proven out.
In
any case, innocent or guilty, our system demands that the accused, rich or poor,
receive a fair and impartial trial.
With this in mind, tile indigent accused will receive the same defense as the
wealthy accused who can pay a million dollar
retainer to a dream team. Get real!
In
defense of the Public Defender, many dedicated attorneys have devoted their
lives to providing the best defense possible
under extremely adverse conditions. In. making the best of a bad situation,
public defenders have acquitted countless
innocent citizens. Unfortunately, many innocent citizens have copped a plea
rather than face the power and might of a well
staffed Prosecutor's Office.
In
a recent murder case in a large municipality, a white middle aged man on full
disability was arrested and tried for murder
involving a motor vehicle. He was indigent and appointed a public defender. The
first trial resulted in a hung jury. In
the second trial, he was convicted and awaited sentencing for one count of
murder and three counts of attempted murder.
The
above accused had the good fortune of obtaining a skilled and dedicated public
defender. In the course of the two trials,
the public defender employed the services of accident reconstruction experts and
investigators. Unfortunately, even these
resources paled in comparison to the money and manpower employed by the
Prosecutor's Office. Undaunted by the
conviction, the public defender maintained belief in his client's innocence and
employed the services of another private
investigator.
The
investigator reviewed trial transcripts, evidence and witness statements. Due to
a limited budget, all witness were not
re-interviewed. The accused was administered an Audio Stress Analysis Test. The
results were conclusive that tile accused
was not guilty of the crime's he had been convicted of.
Assured by this information, the investigator determined that one or
more of the witnesses provided perjured testimony in both trials.
As
an agent of the court, supplied with audio tape recordings of all the witnesses
involved in the fatal incident, the investigator
analyzed the statements of each witness utilizing audio stress analysis and
readily determined which witnesses were lying. The
above investigation resulted in one witness coming forward and changing his
statements to the police and on the witness stand.
The
above information resulted in a plea bargain where the accused was offered an
extremely reduced sentence. He is
currently serving a five year term sentence versus a twenty-five-to-life.
Realistically, this was a "good deal". He will be out on
parole before he could go through the process of yet another lengthy trial. From
a purely judicial standpoint, an innocent man
is in prison, making the best of a bad situation.
The
above case is but one example of the balance of justice working, if not
perfectly, in our judicial system. Although
ruled inadmissible except under stipulation, in most jurisdictions, the use of
lie detectors still plays a major role in the pretrial
stages of civil and criminal cases.
The
inadmissibility of a lie detector test can be argued from now to eternity, but
the truth of the matter, as it stands, is that
it is simply utilized as an investigative tool. Almost all federal law
enforcement and intelligence agencies utilize the polygraph.
Over six hundred U.S. law enforcement agencies utilize Audio Stress Analysis in
one form or another, despite it's
inadmissibility in court. Surprisingly few professionals in the criminal
justice system are aware of the twenty-year battle that
has been raging between the efficacy of the polygraph versus Audio Stress
Analysis. Even more surprising is the fact that
even fewer criminal justice professionals are even aware of Audio Stress
Analysis technology despite the tens of thousands
of conclusive tests that have been conducted worldwide, by qualified examiners
utilizing various versions of the proven
technology.
For
the purposes of this paper, we will assume that Audio Stress Analysis is a
proven medium in the detection of truth and
deception. Given this assumption, we must compare it with the polygraph and how
both instruments relate to use within the
Public Defense sector of the criminal justice system.
The
results obtained in the above criminal case above would have been impossible
utilizing the polygraph. In order to
accomplish what the Audio Stress Analyst accomplished from his office, bulky
equipment and an examination room would
have been necessary to test the defendant. In addition, each and every witness
would have had to be mirandized, physically
present, and tested in a controlled environment. The test would have required
yes or no answers where our use of narrative
analysis of witnesses divulged deception leading to further investigation. In
other words, the Audio Stress Analyst did not
know what he was looking for. Through narrative analysis of statements he was
able to determine deception in details of
witness statements. Further, he was able to ascertain the truthfulness of other
witnesses.
The
cost factor and logistics comparing audio stress analysis versus the polygraph
are exponential. Legally, in most
jurisdictions, an agent of the court, in this case, an Audio Stress Analyst, can
analyze any tape-recorded statements made to
police or other court officials without their consent. The invasion of privacy
is of course, always at stake. Given the fact that
we as agents of the court, are seeking truth in the furtherance of justice, the
abuse factor of a covert system dims in
comparison to the benefits of clearing innocent citizens prior to lengthy
trials.
Most
defense attorneys will argue that truth or innocence is immaterial when charged
with the defense of the accused. Even
so, most attorneys desire to know if, in fact their client is innocent Audio
Stress Analysis is the most expedient, cost effective and conclusive way of
determining an accused citizen's guilt or innocence. The fact that the results
are inadmissible lean toward the defense, creating a win/win situation. If test
results in fact, indicate innocence, most dedicated defense attorneys
will make the court aware of the results, and given their credibility, along
with the test results, may get the charges dropped,
or at least, force the Prosecutor
to conduct further investigations prior to a indictment or trial.
Given
the limited budget and time constraints imposed on even the most sophisticated
Public Defender's Office, use of Audio
Stress Analysis has proven to be an invaluable tool. Public awareness and
expanded use of this technology can only enhance
the criminal
the pursuit, apprehension and conviction of the guilty who are truly threats to
society.
ADDENDUM: RECENT ADVANCES IN
AUDIO STRESS ANALYSIS TECHNOLOGY HAVE
REDUCED THE SIZE OF THE EXAMINER'S EQUIPMENT REQUIRED TO A SEVEN POUND
LAP-TOP COMPUTER. IN ADDITION, THE
SUBJECT BEING TESTED CAN BE ANALYZED
IN
REAL-TIME, IN ANY ENVIRONMENT.