forensic use of voice prints

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

In a message dated 5/1/00 12:41:37 PM, AAllan at AOL.COM writes:

<< The late Henry M. Truby of Florida, an ADS member among other things, was a
strong advocate and practitioner of voiceprints. I don't have references to
any publications of his at my fingertips, but he'd be a name to look for.
- Allan Metcalf >>

Truby published very little on this topic, in truth. He did some legal
consulting, but the results were not very satisfactory. In general, courts do
not allow "voiceprints" as evidence for voice identification, though it is
sometimes possible to eliminate suspects on the basis of dialect, using
formant characteristics as visual aids. Both Bill Labov and Sherry Ash have
published articles on this, describing court cases in which they actually
participated as expert witnesses.