Reed v. Maryland9/6/1978
said:
"In the instant case, the possibility that red fibers, identical to those of which the shirt of the accused was made as determined by chemical and microscopic examination, could have become embedded in the waxer handle subsequent to the shooting, is so remote as to be negligible." Id. at 483.
Other cases sanctioning scientific evidence of varying degrees of conclusiveness include: Nizer v. Phelps, 252 Md. at 193-94 (point of impact); Acme Poultry Corp. v. Melville, 188 Md. 365, 370-74, 53 A.2d 1 (1947) (automobile skid marks), accord, State v. Gray, 227 Md. 318, 322, 176 A.2d 867 (1962); Corens v. State, 185 Md. 561, 569, 45 A.2d 340 (1946) (chemical analysis of blood); Langenfelder v. Thompson, 179 Md. 502, 507, 20 A.2d 491 (1941) (opinions of medical experts admissible as to the cause which might have produced a certain physical condition); Councilman v. Towson Bank, 103 Md. 469, 478-79, 64 A. 358 (1906) (cashier permitted to testify as to genuineness of a signature); and Williams v. State, 64 Md. 384, 393, 1 A. 887 (1885) ("It is well settled that an expert may give an opinion not only as to the nature and effect of an injury, but also the manner or instrument by which it was inflicted."). See also the catalog of items of scientific evidence received by the courts of this State set forth by Chief Judge Gilbert for the Court of Special Appeals in Reed v. State, 35 Md. App. at 480.
In McGuire v. State, 200 Md. 601, 92 A.2d 582 (1952), Judge Henderson said for the Court:
"The appellant contends that there was no sufficient identification of the voice of McGuire, as heard by the officers making the wire tap and recorded on the machine. At that time, of course, neither of the officers had ever seen McGuire, but Officer Glass testified at the trial, after the conversations with him on June 25, that he recognized his voice and that he was the same person who talked to Hess on several prior occasions answering to the name of 'Mack.' It may be noted that the officer not only heard these conversations through earphones, but heard the record played back at the time it was transcribed. It is quite immaterial that he heard McGuire in person after having heard his voice on the telephone, rather than before. At the time of the trial he was in a position to make the comparison and his testimony was clearly admissible. Lenoir v. State, 197 Md. 495, 504, 80 A.2d 3, 7; Rowan v. State, 175 Md. 547, 558, 3 A.2d 753; Wigmore, Evidence (3d ed.) § 2155 (a). Both officers testified that they identified Hess as the person taking and placing bets on the phone and this identification is not challenged." Id. 605-06.
Ironically, under McGuire the majority would find no error had the testimony of the expert been simply that after listening to the recorded voice of the individual who had called the prosecuting witness and recordings of the voice of Reed it was his opinion that the voices were identical. It is because
he stated a reason for his conclusion that the voices are identical, not relying solely upon his aural comparison, that the case goes back for a new trial, although Chief Judge Prescott said in Miller v. Abrahams, 239 Md. 263, 273, 211 A.2d 309 (1965), a zoning case, "the prevailing general rule, almost universally followed, is that an expert's opinion is of no greater proba
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