Audio mentioned in articles

Some of my articles include a link to this page, to allow readers to hear the audio for themselves. Please find the audio you want below. Please also note that this site now contains extensive information additional to the discussion in these articles, so do feel welcome to have a look around. Any questions or comments, don’t hesitate to get in contact.


‘Enhancing’ forensic audio: What if all that really gets enhanced is the credibility of a misleading transcript?

Fraser, H. 2019. “Enhancing” forensic audio: What if all that really gets enhanced is the credibility of a misleading transcript? Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences. http://doi.org/DOI: 10.1080/00450618.2018.1561948

The best way to experience the JonBenét audio is via the link below

https://theconversation.com/dont-believe-your-ears-enhancing-forensic-audio-can-mislead-juries-in-criminal-trials-113844


‘Enhancing’ forensic audio: How widespread false beliefs contribute to injustice in our criminal courts

Fraser, H. 2018. “Enhancing” forensic audio: false beliefs and their effect in criminal trials. Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences. http://doi.org/10.1080/00450618.2018.1491115

Case study original

Case study ‘enhanced’

Fish original

Fish ‘enhanced’


‘Assisting’ listeners to hear words that aren’t there

Fraser, H. 2017. “Assisting” listeners to hear words that aren’t there: dangers in using police transcripts of indistinct covert recordings. Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences.

To mimic the conditions of the experiment, start by writing down what you hear in the audio before reading the article. Then check the article for the two target phrases, and come back to the audio to see if you can locate either or both of the phrases.

To get a quick impression of the issues addressed by the experiment, you could try this video.

1-minute excerpt used in experiment


Interpretation of a crisis call

Fraser, H., Stevenson, B., & Marks, T. (2011). Interpretation of a Crisis Call: Persistence of a primed perception of a disputed utterance. International Journal of Speech Language and the Law, 18(2), 261–292. http://doi.org/10.1558/ijsll.v18i2.261

The full crisis call (1 minute)

Please be aware this is potentially distressing to listen to; it is a real person reporting a real murder.

Excerpt including the crucial phrase (15 seconds)

The crucial phrase in isolation (4 seconds)


The pact experiments

Fraser, H. (2013). Hard-to-hear covert recordings used as evidence in criminal cases: Have we brought back police ‘verballing’? In K. Richards & J. Tauri (Eds.), Crime Justice and Social Democracy: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference Volume 1 (pp. 67–76). Brisbane: Queensland University of Technology.

Fraser, H., & Stevenson, B. (2014). The power and persistence of contextual priming: more risks in using police transcripts to aid jurors’ perception of poor quality covert recordings. International Journal of Evidence and Proof, 18, 205–229.

14-second extract

2.5-second extract (included in the above excerpt)

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