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The News & Observer

September 29, 1993

Voices on rape trial tape to be analyzed

Author: JALEH HAGIGH; STAFF WRITER

Article Text:

DURHAM -- A prosecutor and a defense lawyer continued to spar Tuesday over key evidence in an upcoming rape trial -- two cassette tapes that the prosecutor accidentally altered.

Superior Court Judge Leon Stanback granted a motion by the defendant's attorney, Public Defender Robert Brown Jr., to send the tapes to Florida to be examined. Brown said an expert there will use computer analysis to identify voices on the tapes.

Brown made the request a day after another expert in Raleigh was unable to adequately reconstruct the tapes. Brown said the tapes are crucial to his case because they will show the victim's demeanor before and after the assault.

The tapes, which have the victim's voice on them, will be used in the trial of Timothy Malloy, who is charged with rape and sexual assault at a Durham gas station where he worked.

Prosecutor Mary Winstead said she accidentally erased a small portion of both tapes while she was listening to them in preparation for the trial. Somehow her voice and that of a detective ended up on one of the tapes, she said.

The tapes were taken from an answering machine belonging to a friend of the woman who reported the rape early April 25, 1992.

The woman called her friend several times that morning, both before and after the assault, looking for a ride home. She had been stranded by friends and walked to a Phillips 66 station on Hillsborough Road to use the phone, authorities said. She didn't reach her friend and left several messages.

Winstead objected to sending the evidence to Florida, saying she told Brown whose voices were on the tapes. She also said it was an attempt to delay the trial, which had been scheduled to start Monday.

"This is bordering on the absurd," she said.

[Judge] Stanback disagreed. He said it wasn't clear whose voices are on the tapes. He also said the issue must be cleared up before the trial starts.

Brown also has asked Stanback to remove Winstead from the case because he plans to call her as a witness to discuss problems with the tapes. The judge will rule on that request later.

Third article follows:

The News & Observer

September 28, 1993

Prosecutor erases part of tape meant for rape trial

Article Text:

DURHAM -- The prosecutor in a rape trial said Monday that she accidentally erased portions of a cassette tape with the victim's voice on it. The tape is expected to be used as evidence during the trial.

Mary Winstead, an assistant district attorney, told a Superior Court judge that she was listening to the tape recently and that somehow her voice ended up on it by mistake. She said only small portions of the tape were erased.

The tape is expected to be used in the trial of Timothy Malloy, who is charged with raping a woman April 25, 1992, at a Durham gas station where he worked. He also is charged with forcible sexual offense and crimes against nature. The trial was scheduled to start Monday.

The tape was taken from an answering machine belonging to a friend of the woman who reported the rape. It has the woman's voice on it before and after the assault, authorities said.

The woman was stranded by her friends, and she went to the Phillips 66 station on Hillsborough Road about 2 a.m. to call another friend for a ride home. She couldn't reach her friend and left several messages on the friend's answering machine instead. Police later recovered the tape.

Malloy's attorney, Public Defender Robert Brown Jr., discovered the problem with the tape last week when he was listening to it in preparation for trial. He said Winstead's voice and the voice of a detective can be heard on the tape.

On Monday, Judge Leon Stanback granted Brown's motion to have the court pay for an expert to attempt to reconstruct the tape. Brown said the tape is important to his defense because it shows "the victim's demeanor" before and after the incident.

Brown also asked the judge to disqualify Winstead as the prosecutor in the case. He argued that Winstead has become a witness in the case and that he plans to call her to testify about what had been erased from the tape.

The judge said he would rule on that motion after hearing from the tape expert.

http://crystalmess.blogspot.com/2006/09/ed-bradleys-cue-cards-redux.html