2009         

 

 

                                                                           

 

www.primeauproductions.com

Ed@PrimeauProductions.com

 

 Since 1984, I have concentrated on diverse set of skills acquired within the audio visual field as an audio engineer, video director and producer, and have a strong background in audio and video production on various editing formats and systems. 

 In 1979, I began as an apprentice audio engineer and was trained to record and edit spoken word recordings such as training tapes and audio books. I remained a dialog editor using razor blade editing as the only form of audio editing available back then.  I used my audio perception (not visual perception which is how audio editing is executed today) to match voice tone and levels, as well as create smooth content and flow for these products.

 That apprenticeship led me to becoming a full time audio engineer for nearly 8 years.  In 1986 I left Ambience Recordings where I completed my apprenticeship and worked as a full time audio engineer and began to work for my part time business Primeau Productions.

 I attended the University of Detroit from 1979 to 1985 with my major in communication studies and a minor in criminal justice.  While at the University, I was a volunteer probation officer for the 53^rd district court in Troy, Michigan under judge Drewery. 

 Since then, I have completed dozens of audio and video evidence based cases for many courts and attorneys across the United States.  I have authored several articles that have been published by LEVA, NSA, TASA, and Midwest Meetings.  I authored the book “The Art of Production”, as well as the E Book “The Video Revolution”.

 I am a member of AES, ACFE, IAI, and NSA. I earned a merit award in 1993 from the Michigan chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for sound restoration on an NBC show “Peter and the Wolf”.

 I help courts and law enforcement agencies understand the science and technology of voice identification.  We all have distinctive characteristics to our voice and words, as well as how we pronounce those words.  Each of us has a unique nasal cavity, larynx, teeth, tongue, and mouth.  These distinct characteristics all come together and create a unique sounding voice that can be examined and analyzed using computer software and auditory perception to determine if voices in question are from the same person. 

 My philosophy is that forensics examination and restoration of audio/video media ideally combines art, as well as science. The methods that an expert uses require attention to detail and scientific principles, complemented by an appreciation for clarity and aesthetics. My techniques are derived from both formal education and application of skills gained by working in many forensics situations.

 To present a few milestones: I have provided audio restoration of informant wire recordings that served as key evidence in convictions involving two Detroit area judges. In the course of my career, I have completed dozens of forensics-focused assignments for attorneys throughout the United States.

• 1979-1985: University of Detroit (Communications major, Criminal Justice minor)
• 1978-1981: Probation officer, 52nd District Court, Troy, Michigan
• 1980-1988: Ambience Recording Studio, audio engineer/national sales manager
• 1984-present: Primeau Productions, Inc., President; focusing on marketing videos for professional speakers, audio/video editing, convention/conference production
• 1996-present: TASA audio and video identification/restoration/authentication expert
• 2006-Member of International Association for Identification
• 2005 Member Audio Engineering Society
• 2006 Member American College of Forensic Examiners
• 1998-1999: National Speakers Association of Michigan, President
• 2000-present: Member of Law Enforcement/Emergency Services Video Association (LEVA)
• Certified Digital Video Expert at Pelco Global Training Institute
• Member American Society of Information
• Established expert with acetate and vinyl restoration – Primeau Productions, Inc.
• Hundreds of spoken-word recordings analyzed, clarified and/or restored using computer technology and visual examination of audio and videotape to establish critical listening skills
• Experienced in court testimony and pre-trial preparation of counsel
• Published author, audio and video forensics articles (LEVA, Homeland Security magazine of the American College of Forensic Examiners; National Speakers Association)
• Author of the book "The Art of Production"
• Resource Audio and Video Forensics for Dateline NBC.
• Served as voice ID expert for the Wall Street Journal
• Appointed to the Office of Drug Control Policy of the State of Michigan under State Drug Czar

 

  

 

AUDIO FORENSIC SERVICES*

• Background noise removal/sound clarification
• Voice identification
• Audio recording authentication
• Micro cassette transfers to any format audio
• Audio conversion to compact disc
• Courtroom Testimony

VIDEO FORENSIC SERVICES*

• Video Authentication and restoration
• Video image clarification
• Frame capture from video
• Video conversion to DVD
• CD ROM and DVD design and programming
• Courtroom Testimony

*Any and all formats of audio and video accepted

 

 

 

 

The following is a partial list of cases I have worked on and/or testified in.

 

1.  William Richmond

     121 2^nd St.

     Beckley, WV   25801

Beckley Steel Inc.

Ex-employee recorded conversations of Beckley Steel management with employee. I analyzed recordings on behalf of plaintiff Beckley Steel and was deposed via the telephone. The case never went to court.

 

 

2.  DiGiacomo & Baffa

     16^th Floor

     1601 Market Street

     Philadelphia, PA   19103

Fitzgerald v. Skobeloff

I represented the plaintiff with counsel DiGiacomo in a medial malpractice suit against a doctor (Skobeloff) and hospital. The case involved a phone answering machine tape erasure – accidentally erased by court reporter. I confirmed the erasure and explained the information could not be recovered.  I testified in this case in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

 

 

3.  Camile Conway

     Pugh, Jones & Johnson

     180 N. LaSalle St.

     Suite 2910

     Chicago, IL   60601

This was the well-publicized Chicago nightclub stampede disaster that made national news. I was retained by the city attorney of Chicago to examine a nightclub’s digital surveillance system.  The system had been tampered with and the original footage was not available to examine.

Several people were trampled while trying to evacuate a nightclub on Michigan Avenue. The surveillance system incorporated a digital video recorder. One of the owners was behind the accidental erasure of all video evidence.

 

 

 

 

4.  Patrick Coolihan

     Coolihan, DeMeo & Beard, P.C.

     1900 Spring Rd., Suite 508

     Oak Brook, IL    60523

People of the State of Illinois v. Michael Hay:

I represented the defendant as a video expert. A CCTV video tape of a (jewelry store) robbery was provided and I captured some frames from the surveillance video and clarified them. I then made several prints of the captured video frames and sent the prints and video files (on a CD). I testified to my findings in the DuPage County Courthouse, 1900 Spring Rd., Oak Brook, IL  60523.

 

 

5. Mark Bendure

    Bendure & Thomas

    577 E. Larned, Suite 210

    Detroit, MI    48226

The Judicial Tenure Commission v. Ferrara

I represented the defendant, Judge Ferrara, with counsel Mark Bendure. My responsibilities included voice identification and examining the tapes for tampering. The Executive Director, Allen Sobel, represented the JTC.  I testified in this case here in Detroit, in front of the Judicial Tenure Commission.

 

 

6. Jeff Ogren

    Bochetto & Lentz

    1524 Locust St.

    Philadelphia, PA   19102

    Michigan Public Service Commission

Knox v. Pathfinders

I represented the defense, Pathfinders, with Counsel Jeff Ogren. My responsibilities included determining if a third-party verification recording had been tampered with and if the caller’s voice matched the defendants. I testified in front of Judge Goldstein and the Michigan Public Service Commission.

 

 

 

7.  Deborah Marik

     Newton Falls, Ohio, Circuit Court

Clark and Langley v. Patrick Layshock

I represented the plaintiff with Counsel Deborah Marik. My responsibilities were to determine whether the (8) audio tapes submitted to me were intercepted phone calls; determine how these calls were made; were they tapes made by anyone involved in the conversations and were the police involved in making the recordings. I was deposed in Michigan for this Ohio case.

 

 

8. Margolis Edelstein

    1500 Grant Building

    Pittsburgh, PA   15219-2203

    (412) 281-4256

David Brinker v. Municipality of Marysville

I represented the Municipality of Marysville to analyze general police department tapes for authenticity and possible alteration. I testified via deposition.  I was hired by the police department in Marysville, Pennsylvania.

 

 

9. Charles McKinney

    Columbus, Oh

People of Ohio v. Wendell Jackson

This was a criminal case I testified in where a CI made audio cassette recordings of a police officer during business transactions.  He tried to entrap the officer with receiving stolen merchandise.  I examined the cassette recordings, testified in court in Columbus, Ohio for this criminal case and determined that they could not be authenticated.  We won the case which went on to a civil case I also testified in.

 

 

 

10. Michael Gorte

      Bay City, Michigan

      989-894-670

People v. Edward Murray

In this case, I examined an answering machine recording and compared the voice of the accused with the voice on the evidence recording.  This was a parole violation matter. I examined the answering machine and recording under the supervision of the Sheriff’s Department, as well as the prosecuting attorney. I testified in court 10/14/05.

 

 

11. Ron Snyder

      Columbus, Ohio

      614-461-4455

State of Ohio v Wendell Jackson

This is the civil case as described above held in City Hall in Columbus Ohio.  I testified on behalf of Wendell Jackson, the plaintiff on March 29^th 2006. 

 

 

12. Steven Potter

      Auburn Hills, Michigan

      248-377-1700

      (Contact Misty)

Haddad v Indiana Pacers

I was the video expert for the defense, the Indiana Pacers, during this one week trial. I took the stand once to explain the video evidence I had assembled from all network sources, including ESPN, Fox Midwest and WB20. I testified in The United States District Court, Eastern Division of Michigan

The jury returned a not guilty verdict on behalf of the Pacers.

 

 

13. Garry Weiss

      Merrillville, Indiana

      219-736-5297

State of Indiana V. Wesley English

This is a criminal case in the Circuit Court of Lake County in front of Judge Thomas Stefandaker Jr. that Involving analog video tape.

I was retained by the defense to prove to the court that video evidence submitted was not reliable as video evidence and should not be used in the trial.  I testified on behalf of the defendant Wesley English.

 

 

14. U.S. Gold and Diamonds vs. JKD Diamond Brokers. 

      Dianne Marx

      Dayton Ohio

      937-222-2500 

This case is in Federal Court in Dayton Ohio November 3^rd, 2008.  It involves my examination of a Integral Technologies digital video CCTV system examination and authentication of video evidence and the operational characteristics of the system itself.

The Software is version 4.0.  Integral Technologies was sold to Pelco December of 07 and is now known as Pelco; Global Leaders in Security Systems.

 

We won the case! On November 24^th 2008 the jury awarded my client a total of 6.9 million dollars in loss and compensatory damages as well as legal fees.

A letter from my client reads:

 

Ed,

 

Just writing to let you know the jury came back with a very favorable verdict:  $8,400 which represents the actual cost of the diamond, plus the cost of shipping ($400); $1.7 million representing the wholesale price of the diamond and $2.3 million which represents the retail value.  We are entitled to treble damages on the $2.3 million.  We couldn't have done it without you!  We, obviously, are very, very pleased, as is Mr. Stafford.  Thank you again for all your help.

 

Patty

 

Complete article appears in the Dayton Business Journal November 25^th 2008.

Link to article: http://dayton.bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/2008/11/24/daily21.html

 

 

15. State of Ohio V James McClellan

      Jerry McHenry

      Columbus, Ohio

      614-466-5394

Ohio Public Defenders Office

I testified in this video case held in the Allen County Court of Common Pleas and helped the court understand the details about a poor quality police car video tape of a traffic stop.

 

 

16. People v Jeff Updyke

      Patrick Dunn

      Warren, Michigan

      248-377-1700    Ex 13

I testified July 23, 2009 in a criminal matter where Jeff Updyke was accused of impersonating a police officer.  The perpetrator called and left a voice mail message claiming the family’s daughter was dead behind a shopping center and had overdosed on heroin.  This was a voice identification case which included evidence recording and exemplar created by me here in our Rochester Hills location.

 
Contributed to an article as voice ID expert for the Wall Street Journal:

 

Hi Ed,

 

Thanks again for your help with the story. Your critical ear was right; it was Pynchon. When I confronted the publisher with your findings they admitted it, so it was a great scoop for the Journal. Here's a link to the story.

 

-Steven Krutz

 

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2009/08/11/pynchon-revealed/

 

• 

• August 11, 2009, 12:01 PM ET

Yup, It’s Him: A Pynchon Mystery Solved

Last Tuesday, long-suffering fans of the reclusive writer Thomas Pynchon received a double gift. Pynchon’s latest book, “Inherent Vice,” a stoned-out detective story set in early-‘70s L.A., was released by Penguin Press (read the Journal’s review). And to promote it, the publisher put out a cool video trailer featuring a narrator whose slow, lazy cadence sounds suspiciously like that of Pynchon’s, as evidenced by a guest appearance on “The Simpsons” and this clip from what appears to be a German TV spot. Inquiries by GalleyCat and others as to whether Pynchon is the guy channeling the novel’s main character, beach bum private eye Doc Sportello, have been met with “no comment” from Penguin Press and the video’s producers, Meerkat Media. And, of course, the man himself is mum (Would Pynchon fans expect anything else?).

In an effort to solve the mystery, Speakeasy did a little sleuthing and called Ed Primeau, a Michigan-based sound engineer and voice identification expert. Like handwriting analysis, voice identification is an inexact science, often used by law enforcement to rule out a suspect rather than to provide a 100% clear-cut ID. Still, people have unique vocal timbres and deliveries, especially Pynchon, who sounds like actor John Astin (i.e. Gomez Addams from the old TV show), mixed with a Midwest corn farmer, with a dollop of aging stoner.

So is it possible to rule out the man in the “Inherent Vice” trailer as being the same guy in the Simpsons episode and German TV clip? Not at all, according to Primeau. In fact, he says, based on a preliminary analysis the speech pattern and inflection is “virtually identical” in all three clips. “It’s a very unique style of delivery,” Primeau says. “It’s very up-and-down. He’ll hit these accented spots every few words. You know the TV show “Dragnet,” how Joe Friday talked? It’s the opposite of that.”

We should point out Primeau is an unbiased witness, having never read Pynchon (“I don’t know this guy but it looks like he has some history as an author,” he said). Nevertheless, if he hasn’t been taken by the man’s work, Primeau is intrigued by his voice, which he describes as “a tobacco-driven soft rasp.”

Primeau’s conclusion: “Beyond a reasonable degree of professional certainty, I believe these voices were delivered by the same person.” Confronted with Primeau’s findings, Tracy Locke, a publicist at Penguin, came clean and admitted, “It is, in fact, Thomas Pynchon doing the narration.”

Copyright 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit

 

 

Edward John Primeau

Audio Forensic Expert

Certified Digital Video CCTV Expert

Member ACFEI, AES, IAI, NSA

Primeau Productions, Inc.

(248) 853-4091

(248) 853-4098 (FAX)

Ed@PrimeauProductions.com