Audiovisual Evidence Research Articles

Beyond A Reasonable Doubt? Audiovisual Evidence, AI Manipulation, Deepfakes, and the Law

Beyond A Reasonable Doubt? Audiovisual Evidence, AI Manipulation, Deepfakes, and the Law

Re-viewing Video Evidence and Police Violence in the Criminal Courts in Turkey

This article offers an analysis of audiovisual evidence claims in the struggle for identifying and documenting police violence in Turkish criminal courts. Focusing on a fatal police shooting in an urban district predominantly populated by leftist groups and marginalized communities, it aims to illustrate the limits of both criminal trials and audiovisual technologies of proof. The “culture of impunity” has been the prevailing framework to describe courts’ denial of the ongoing violence of law enforcement. Instead, this article pays attention to the formation of facts, regulation of sensory perceptions, and affective engagements in the courtroom. Drawing on the ethnographically grounded examination of the hearings and the case file, I argue that criminal trials establish the particular legibility of video evidence and police violence. Furthermore, the breach between the ways of seeing, hearing, and interpreting these media serves to delineate different political communities, challenging the assumed unity over which the law has authority.

Evidence in administrative proceedings - proof by audio-visual record, proof by the content of the website and other means of proof lacking explicit regulation in the Code of Administrative Procedure

Evidence is one of the most important parts of any administrative procedure. The Czech Administrative Procedure Code contains the basic legal regulation of evidence in administrative proceedings and a demonstrative list of evidence. The administrative authorities are therefore not limited in the proceedings to the explicitly stated means of proof. However, the fundamental problem is that the Administrative Procedure Code regulates the implementation of only those means of proof which it expressly mentions. The Administrative Procedure Code is completely silent in relation to other means of proof and the course of their implementation. Nevertheless, in many cases, administrative authorities also need to take other means of proof (not regulated by the Administrative Procedure Code), in particular proof by means of an audiovisual recording or proving the content of websites. The author will therefore focus on answering the questions that cause the greatest problems in this context in practice: “What rules must be followed in obtaining this evidence in order to be legal evidence? Under what conditions and by what procedure should the administrative authorities take this evidence? To what extent can analogy be followed in the implementation of this evidence? The answers to these questions will be demonstrated mainly in relation to the audiovisual evidence and the evidence of the content of the website. This is because of the evidence that is gaining in frequency and importance with regard to the development of modern society and information technology. Based on the analysis of the current administrative practice and case law, de lege ferenda proposals will also be formulated in relation to the current (non)regulation of this evidence in the Administrative Procedure Code.

Body-worn cameras: An effective or cosmetic policing response to domestic and family violence?

Drawing together the literature on police body-worn cameras and video-recorded evidence in domestic and family violence matters, this article explores whether technology can ‘fix’ criminal justice responses to domestic and family violence. We argue that the use of police body-worn cameras and digitally recorded audio-visual evidence in domestic and family violence matters is not a cure-all for deficiencies in criminal justice responses to domestic and family violence. While the use of such technologies may alleviate some of the deficiencies highlighted in the Australian state of Victoria’s 2016 Royal Commission into Family Violence, it raises serious concerns about victim’s agency and privacy. We argue that the introduction of such technologies requires significant investment in training and education – for police to adapt to their changed role and for judicial officers, legal practitioners and potential jurors in understanding and interpreting victim survivor behaviour on film.

Res nulla loquitur

The concept of res nulla loquitur, the no-thing speaks, is a reformulation of the rule of evidence, res ipsa loquitur, the thing speaks for itself. It is drawn from a careful examination of the recorded arrest of Sandra Bland in 2015, and the evidence collected in Texas’s subsequent investigation of her death while in custody. Engaging with what remains of Sandra Bland’s speech performatively by “listening while you look” (Moten), the article offers a critical reading of the rhetoric of self-evident truth associated with Fourth Amendment jurisprudence on lethal arrest and more recent audio-visual evidence of police use of lethal force against black citizens. To emphasize the sonic dimension of the terrain of struggle with the violence of the word of law, each section is accompanied by sound loops the author created from evidence used by artist, lauren woods, in her exhibit, American Monument (2020). These sounds loops can be accessed at resnullaloquitur.com.

Professional development for inclusive education: insights from India

ABSTRACT This paper presents outcomes from a professional development programme (PDP) in India designed to support inclusion of students with disabilities. 107 practising teachers including general educators, special educators, school leaders, and counsellors, among others participated in a six-month PDP. The programme focused on equipping teachers with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) practices tailored towards the Indian context. The PDP consisted of 24 interactive workshops conducted over six days once a month, along with coaching to support implementation, resource packages, a professional learning community, and visits to the host’s and participants’ settings. Data from questionnaires and audio-visual evidence suggest that participants were able to apply a range of strategies including attention grabbers, energisers, classroom management, and reading fluency strategies to their classrooms. Participants most appreciated the hands-on strategies and contextually relevant resources that were made available at no additional cost as part of the PDP. The paper highlights the need to create and share open education resources (OERs) that all teachers can contribute to and extend the scope of PD programmes to provide follow-up support.

The Effect of Deepfake Video on News Credibility and Corrective Influence of Cost-Based Knowledge about Deepfakes

With rapid technical advancements, deepfakes—i.e., hyper-realistic fake videos using face swaps—have become more widespread and easier to create, challenging the old notion of “seeing is believing.” Despite raised concerns over potential impacts of deepfakes on people’s credibility toward audio-visual evidence in journalism, systematic investigation of the topic has been lacking. This study conducted an experiment (N = 230) that tested (1) how a news article using deepfake video (vs. real video) affects news credibility and viral behavioral intentions and (2) whether, based on signaling theory, obtaining knowledge about the low cost of producing deepfakes reduces the impact of deepfake news. Results show that people whose pre-existing attitudes toward controversial issues (abortion, marijuana legalization) are congruent with the advocated position of a news article are more likely to believe and be willing to share deepfake news as much as real video news. In addition, educating participants about the low cost of producing deepfakes was effective in reducing the credibility and viral behavioral intention of deepfake news for those who have congruent issue attitudes. This study provides evidence for differing levels of susceptibility for deepfake news and the importance of media literacy education regarding deepfakes that would prevent biased reasoning.

The Anthropologist’s Video Camera as Stage

In this article, I explore how Sudanese communities have attempted to visually document, witness and communicate a silenced history of forced displacement. Thousands of peasants in rural Northern Sudan were flooded out of their homes along the Nile during the 2003–2009 Merowe Dam construction project. My aim is to examine both the complex local interactions with and appropriations of the anthropologist’s video camera, which, in the relational process of witnessing, turned into a stage to provide audio-visual evidence against hegemonic discourses of Sudan’s successful hydroelectric future. I show how my video camera’s affordances of capturing and mediating ‘truth’ evoked specific performative genres of representation in moments of crisis and illustrate how these usages differ from everyday interactions with a video camera. These performative genres of ‘crisis witnessing’, I contend, resonate with globally distributed media realities and thereby reproduce certain practices of communication that are stereotyped in the mass media.

‘Ghana in the Eyes of God’: Media ecology and the Anas journalistic investigation of Ghana’s judiciary

Abstract In September 2015, investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas revealed covertly gathered audio-visual evidence of judicial corruption in Ghana. We contextualize the journalistic investigation that resulted in what became known as the ‘judges scandal’ in media ecology, emphasizing the importance of digital technologies to the investigation. From a discourse analysis of media reportage, we argue that public focus on the human agency implicated in the investigation is unmatched by conversations regarding the impact of new communication technologies that facilitated the investigation. We suggest a conversational expansion to consider ramifications of new digital communication technologies for social power relations in Ghana, and the potential for holding public office holders to account. By highlighting communication technology as a factor, we direct attention to a potential area for intervention by way of journalistic activity and civil society capacity building in Ghana.

On the Record, All the Time: Audiovisual Evidence Management in the 21st Century

We are currently witnessing the explosive growth of audiovisual evidence generated by widespread deployment of surveillance cameras, smartphones, and bodycams in law enforcement. With this growth comes new and emergent intersections of policy, technology and record-keeping in contemporary society. Library and Information Science (LIS) practitioners' expertise in the ethical management of public records has renewed relevance for audiovisual evidence, which requires complex tradeoffs between the competing demands of public access, privacy, cost, and collective memory. This paper reports on the IMLS-funded On the Record, All the Time project, which brings together leaders from LIS education, records management, law enforcement, civic governance, and policymaking communities to define the challenges of, and set specific priorities for, the management and preservation of new forms of audiovisual evidence. The project places particular emphasis on identification of core competencies for managers of audiovisual evidence. It also seeks to facilitate information exchange and radical collaboration with key stakeholders--notably, law enforcement and criminal justice practitioners--with whom the LIS field has previously had little contact, and to open new areas of research and professional possibility for LIS program graduates.

Digital Evidence as a Means of Proof before the International Court of Justice

This article discusses the use of digital evidence as a means of proof before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The absence of specific Court rules and procedures for digital evidence (with the exception of Practice Direction IXbis) is not necessarily an obstacle to its production and evaluation before the ICJ, as the general evidentiary rules can also be applied to digital evidence. The article first looks at the rules on the production of documentary evidence and then examines the specific issues related to audiovisual evidence. Finally, it examines the admissibility of digital evidence unlawfully obtained by a litigant through unilateral transborder access to data. The article concludes that, even if specific regulation may be needed as to the specific way in which authenticity and accuracy of digital evidence are to be established, the particular facts of the case and the grounds of challenge can vary widely, and it is doubtful that any regulation could be sufficiently flexible to deal with this in advance.

Snap Judgment: Judicial Review of Audiovisual Evidence at Summary Judgment

Conflicting results in two recent police excessive force decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court — Tolan v. Cotton and Plumhoff v. Rickard — have sown confusion among judges, lawyers, and commentators about the standards for summary judgment. This Note shows how the two decisions are consistent with each other and with longstanding summary judgment precedents. The key insight is that since the Second Circuit’s iconic 1946 decision in Arnstein v. Porter, appellate judges, including Supreme Court justices, have listened to audio recordings, scrutinized artwork, and — as in the case of Plumhoff — watched video footage in order to decide for themselves whether there is a genuine issue of material fact for trial. These “objective” components of the record are considered vitally important to the decisions. When no objective evidence is available, appellate judges are left with cases of “he said/she said” testimonial evidence in which demeanor evidence looms larger, and are therefore more likely to allow the cases to proceed to trial. The presumed propriety of appellate judicial review of audiovisual evidence not only explains the different results in Tolan (no audiovisual evidence of police shooting and a reversal of the lower court’s finding for the defendant officer) and Plumhoff (video evidence of a police car chase resulting in the Court finding for the officer), but will also have greater significance in current police excessive force cases given the omnipresence of smartphones and police recordings. At the same time, it is worth questioning whether appellate judges should continue to exercise no-limit, de novo review of present-day audiovisual evidence, which may require as much understanding of context as traditional demeanor evidence.

Actor-Network Theory and the Practice of Aviation Archaeology

World War II aviation archaeology is a dynamic subfield of conflict archaeology, which has developed through the need to conserve twentieth-century military heritage resources. Like battlefield archaeology (: iii–vii), it has only recently emerged as a credible area of academic study. Theoretical development in both areas has been dominated by a military, historical-particularist viewpoint, which often ignores the role of society in warfare. Actor-network theory, which stresses the link between society and technology, provides an opportunity to broaden the theoretical perspective of aviation archaeology research. Recent archaeological work at a downed USAAF aircraft site near Gander, Newfoundland, is presented as a case study to illustrate the enlistment of a network of stakeholders, material culture, and textual and audio-visual evidence in the interpretation of a single site.

Revisioning Obedience: Exploring the Role of Milgram's Skills as a Filmmaker in Bringing His Shocking Narrative to Life

In his “Obedience to Authority” experiments, Milgram took on the dual roles of scientific investigator and documentary filmmaker. He used photography and film as tools of investigation and dissemination throughout his career. Milgram claimed the documentary Obedience (1965) as audiovisual evidence of his “obedience to authority” paradigm. “Revisioning Milgram” looks behind the scenes at the scripting and authoring of Obedience in order to assess its claims as both art and science. It examines the way in which Milgram constructed a visual narrative to support his preferred findings and some of the tensions that arose when his film was first broadcast. This article considers how we might recover the lost visual narratives of Obedience in order to contribute to contemporary reappraisals of “Obedience to Authority.”

The Problems and Challenges of Managing Crowd Sourced Audio-Visual Evidence

A number of recent incidents, such as the Stanley Cup Riots, the uprisings in the Middle East and the London riots have demonstrated the value of crowd sourced audio-visual evidence wherein citizens submit audio-visual footage captured on mobile phones and other devices to aid governmental institutions, responder agencies and law enforcement authorities to confirm the authenticity of incidents and, in the case of criminal activity, to identify perpetrators. The use of such evidence can present a significant logistical challenge to investigators, particularly because of the potential size of data gathered through such mechanisms and the added problems of time-lining disparate sources of evidence and, subsequently, investigating the incident(s). In this paper we explore this problem and, in particular, outline the pressure points for an investigator. We identify and explore a number of particular problems related to the secure receipt of the evidence, imaging, tagging and then time-lining the evidence, and the problem of identifying duplicate and near duplicate items of audio-visual evidence.

Coherent Labyrinths

This essay compares the presentation of evidence in classic detective fiction and in the author's forthcoming interactive digital ethnography. The basis of comparison is the graph, a concept familiar in the study of topology and artificial intelligence that can be used to model explorations of labyrinths and mazes of linked ideas. In the present study of a Perry Mason novel, the essay distinguishes three kinds of research explorations. These have close parallels to the way that users can conduct virtual fieldwork as they investigate audiovisual evidence in the multimedia ethnography, Maasai Interactive. In addition to discussing patterns in the ethnographic data, that application is designed in a way that facilitates users' discoveries of new and unanticipated ideas. [detective fiction, experimental ethnography, hypermedia, interactive media, Maasai, research methodology]

Perceptual Decisions Formed by Accumulation of Audiovisual Evidence in Prefrontal Cortex

To form perceptual decisions in our multisensory environment, the brain needs to integrate sensory information derived from a common source and segregate information emanating from different sources. Combining fMRI and psychophysics in humans, we investigated how the brain accumulates sensory evidence about a visual source in the context of congruent or conflicting auditory information. In a visual selective attention paradigm, subjects (12 females, 7 males) categorized video clips while ignoring concurrent congruent or incongruent soundtracks. Visual and auditory information were reliable or unreliable. Our behavioral data accorded with accumulator models of perceptual decision making, where sensory information is integrated over time until a criterion amount of information is obtained. Behaviorally, subjects exhibited audiovisual incongruency effects that increased with the variance of the visual and the reliability of the interfering auditory input. At the neural level, only the left inferior frontal sulcus (IFS) showed an "audiovisual-accumulator" profile consistent with the observed reaction time pattern. By contrast, responses in the right fusiform were amplified by incongruent auditory input regardless of sensory reliability. Dynamic causal modeling showed that these incongruency effects were mediated via connections from auditory cortex. Further, while the fusiform interacted with IFS in an excitatory recurrent loop that was strengthened for unreliable task-relevant visual input, the IFS did not amplify and even inhibited superior temporal activations for unreliable auditory input. To form decisions that guide behavioral responses, the IFS may accumulate audiovisual evidence by dynamically weighting its connectivity to auditory and visual regions according to sensory reliability and decisional relevance.

Undisclosed Recipients: documentary in an era of digital convergence/Undisclosed Recipients: database documentaries and the Internet

As part of ‘two essays in dialogue’ with a piece written by Dale Hudson, this article advances critical discussions of the documentary film given the context of, and challenges posed by, digitality. Specifically, it analyses ‘the digital’ in Michael Takeo Magruder's {transcription} and [FALLUJAH. IRAQ. 31/03/2004] and Christina McPhee's La Conchita mon amour as a means to advance discussion of documentary beyond claims to realism and documentary truth towards what Trinh T. Minh-ha calls ‘boundary events’. Tay argues that digital video, editing and compositing expose the limitations of visual evidence to represent trauma.This article argues that new media disrupt the linear structures conventionally ascribed to documentary, emphasizing spatiality and relationality. On the Internet, ‘database documentaries’ facilitate selection and recombination of ‘documents’ (audio-visual evidence) through user acts, hypertext, algorithms and random access memory. Specifically, the article examines two pieces that address the controversial subjects of globalization and war. As database documentaries, Eduardo Navas's Goobalization and the collaborative Permanent Transit: net.remix by Mariam Ghani, Zohra Saed, Qasim Naqvi and Edward Potter destabilize quests for ‘totalizing meaning’ by emphasizing interactivity, contestation and multiplicities of meanings. The database evokes endless recombinations, so that meaning, Hudson argues in relation to these works, is explicitly polyvocal, unstable and contested.