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Reed v. Maryland9/6/1978
is satisfied that the preconditions of admissibility, in terms of relevance and helpfulness to the fact-finder, have been met. Thus, in the particular circumstances of a given case the presiding Justice may see fit to place greater emphasis on the consideration whether or not the scientific matters involved in the proffered testimony have been generally accepted or conform to a generally accepted explanatory theory. Cf. United States v. Baller, 519 F.2d 463, 466 (4th Cir. 1975) and United States v. Brown, 557 F.2d 541, 556 (6th Cir. 1977). The Justice may believe this appropriate either (1) to avoid prejudice which might arise because the assertion that the principle, or technique, has a 'scientific' basis may import an objectivity which could unduly influence the jury as a lay fact-finder or (2) to assist the presiding Justice in his responsibility to determine relevance, within the definition of Rule 401 M.R.Evid., i.e., whether the proffered testimony is likely to make the existence of any fact or consequence more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence.
" This, however, is not the same as saying, as does the Frye rule, that the presiding Justice is bound by an additional, independently controlling standard which exists over and above relevance (Rule 401 M.R.Evid.) and the capability of the expert testimony to assist the trier of fact (Rule 702 M.R.Evid.). On the approach we adopt the presiding Justice will be allowed a latitude, which the Frye rule denies, to hold admissible in a particular case proffered evidence involving newly ascertained, or applied,
scientific principles which have not yet achieved general acceptance in whatever might be thought to be the applicable scientific community, if a showing has been made which satisfies the Justice that the proffered evidence is sufficiently reliable to be held relevant. Cf. United States v. Franks, 511 F.2d 25, 33 (6th Cir. 1975)." Id. at 503-04.
The court concluded "that it was not error for the presiding Justice to admit the expert voice identification testimony in th case" by reason "of the evidence of reliability presented by Dr. Tosi," adding that the trial judge "was justified in finding that the spectrograph principle was sufficiently reliable to qualify as 'relevant' within the definition of Rule 401 M.R. Evid., and that the qualified expert testimony based on it could be of assistance to the jury as fact-finder."
Of particular interest is the concurring opinion of Justice Nichols. He observed that the Maine Rules of Evidence were "modeled after the Federal Rules of Evidence . . . ." He was of the view that the Maine court "should continue to adhere to the Frye standard." However, on the basis of Baller, supra, 519 F. 2d 463, and Lykus, supra, 367 Mass. 191, he said that " here is sufficient basis in those cases to uphold the admission of spectrographic evidence in the trial of the . . . case [then before the Maine court] without abandoning the important protections which Frye affords."
The majority opinion in the case at bar states, " t is the almost unanimous opinion in recent legal commentaries that the voiceprint technique does not satisfy the standards articulated in Frye v. United States." It refers to six law review articles, two of which were by the same individual. Included in its six are three student articles. Thus, I have no hesitancy in pointing to student comments which have approved admission of such evidence. See Note, Evidence -- Spectrographic Method of Voice Identification -- Tendency of the Courts Toward Admitting Scientific Evidence, 12 Wake Forest L. Rev. 879 (1976); Comment, supra, 44 Cinn. L. Rev. 616 (1975); Comment, supra, 1975 Wash. U.L.Q. 77
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