Forensic audio analysis plays a crucial role in authentication and enhancement of audio evidence, but detecting edits is not always foolproof.
Voice identification in criminal cases has advanced technology for analysis and comparison, although it is never 100% accurate.
Deep dives
Key Point 1: Forensic audio analysis in criminal investigations
Forensic audio analysis involves using audio evidence to investigate crimes or for courtroom use. In the podcast, a forensic audio examiner, Kent Gibson, discusses his role in analyzing audio recordings from the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370. He identifies potential audio edits in the recordings and suggests they may have been made to withhold information or due to poor editing. Forensic audio analysis plays a crucial role in authentication and enhancement of audio evidence, although detecting edits is not always foolproof.
Key Point 2: Voice identification and analysis
Kent Gibson also highlights the use of voice identification in criminal cases, such as the Trayvon Martin case. He explains that advanced technology now allows analysis and comparison of voices without relying on specific word samples. However, he emphasizes that voice identification is never 100% accurate and is often presented as a percentage likelihood. Gibson recounts his role in analyzing recorded threats made by Mel Gibson, verifying the voice and confirming it was not edited.
Key Point 3: Challenges and techniques in forensic audio analysis
Kent Gibson discusses the challenges in forensic audio analysis, including dealing with digital distortion and reducing background noise. He mentions the use of software filters to enhance recordings and the importance of having enough audio material for analysis. Gibson also shares a creative technique used to record conversations in a noisy jail holding room by installing a loud fan that masked the recordings. However, he cautions that not all recordings can be enhanced, and managing expectations is crucial in this field.
You might not realize it, but audio can be just as crucial to solving a case than video or eyewitness testimony. But understanding how to interpret audio evidence, or having the ability to enhance it to a point of intelligibility, requires highly-specialized training and expensive software. Meet Kent Gibson, one of the country's leading forensic audio experts, who's done audio analysis for the FBI, the Secret Service, and the Department of Homeland Security, among many others, and get his take on audio evidence from the missing Malaysian Airlines flight, the Trayvon Martin case, and Mel Gibson's infamous domestic dispute.