Chair: HHJ Jonathan Cooper
This webinar will outline some of the practical issues and legal issues surrounding the use of voice identification in court, in particular the use of voice parades. Dr Kirsty McDougall (Assistant Professor of Phonetics, University of Cambridge) will discuss the role of the forensic phonetician in practice and outline how voice parades are assembled and conducted. Jeremy Robson (Senior Lecturer in Law, De Montfort University), will give an overview of the law in England and Wales in relation to aspects of voice identification.
There will be an opportunity for questions and discussion at the end. This seminar is being funded by the ESRC as part of the ‘Improving Voice Identification Procedures’ project. As part of the event you will be asked to complete a short survey during the event about your experience and understanding of voice identification. This will take approximately 10 minutes and the results are anonymous. Completion of the survey is optional but will greatly help our research.
Speaker profiles:
HHJ Jonathan Cooper is the Deputy Resident Judge for Cambridgeshire, sitting primarily in Cambridge Crown Court. As a former criminal solicitor he regularly advised on police identification procedures of all kinds. He is now a principal editor of the Compendium, the publication which sets out example directions judges might give juries on a wide range of topics, including important safeguards a jury must always follow when considering disputed identification evidence.
Jeremy Robson is a senior lecturer in law at De Montfort University. He was formerly a criminal barrister. His research interests lie in interdisciplinary research into criminal procedure, evidence and adjudication.
Kirsty McDougall is Assistant Professor of Phonetics at the University of Cambridge and a fellow of Selwyn College. She specialises in forensic phonetics and speaker characteristics and has a particular interest in the construction and implementation of voice parades. From time to time she acts as an expert witness in cases involving earwitness evidence.
Bookings will close 1 hour prior to the start of the event, and registrants will receive a link to join the online event 24hrs before the event, via their provided email address.
Please contact the DMU Events Office on eventsoffice@dmu.ac.uk if you have any questions.
This event is open to all.