International Journal of Speech Language and the Law, Vol 1, No 1 (1994)

On the problem of speaker identification by victims and witnesses

Hermann Künzel
Issued Date: 18 Feb 2013

Abstract


In the major industrialized nations the use of the human voice as an instrument in committing crimes has been steadily increasing. In Germany, this tendency has been observed for several years in a variety of offences such as extortion, kidnapping, terrorist attack, rape, hoax bomb threats and, perhaps surprisingly, in a significant number of homicide cases (59 out of a total of 538 handled in 18 months). Thus, the identification of a criminal on the basis of his/her verbal behaviour has become a challenge to our judicial systems.
However, there is considerable uncertainty on the part of the judiciary as to the degree of reliability of speaker identification (SID) by laypersons, and sometimes as to whether or not such evidence should be considered at all. Since research findings on the subject are sparse and to some degree controversial, reservations are certainly justified

Download Media

PDF (Price: £17.50 )

DOI: 10.1558/ijsll.v1i1.45

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.





Equinox Publishing Ltd - 415 The Workstation 15 Paternoster Row, Sheffield, S1 2BX United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 (0)114 221-0285 - Email: [email protected]

Privacy Policy