{"id":63,"date":"2008-08-08T12:51:35","date_gmt":"2008-08-08T17:51:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/?p=63"},"modified":"2016-05-17T16:37:38","modified_gmt":"2016-05-17T20:37:38","slug":"iep-faqs-tapes-are-best-evidence-in-litigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/iep-faqs-tapes-are-best-evidence-in-litigation\/","title":{"rendered":"IEP FAQs: Tapes are &#8220;Best Evidence&#8221; in Litigation"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_pop\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/gallery\/share-button-gray.png\" style=\"border:0px\" alt=\"Share\" \/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\");var hupso_icon_type = \"labels\";var hupso_background=\"#FFFFFF\";var hupso_border=\"#FFFFFF\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_twitter_via=\"wrightslaw\";var hupso_url=\"\";var hupso_title=\"IEP%20FAQs%3A%20Tapes%20are%20%22Best%20Evidence%22%20in%20Litigation\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div><blockquote><p><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" style=\"border: 1px solid #000000; margin-left: 10px; float: right;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/images\/istock\/tape.audio.rec.jpg\" alt=\"audio cassette tape recorder\" width=\"180\" height=\"120\" \/>We are in due process. We&#8217;ve recorded the IEP meetings. Should we use transcripts of the meetings or use the tapes as evidence in the hearing? <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I always submit<strong> tapes<\/strong> of IEP meetings as the &#8220;Best Evidence,&#8221; i.e., the primary exhibit about what was recorded at the meeting. A transcript is an aid to understanding the tape recording &#8230;<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong>Tactics and Strategies: Tips from Pete<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>I prefer to use <em>audio tapes<\/em> as evidence because they are <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">not<\/span> cutting edge technology.<\/p>\n<p>Tapes are easier for those Hearing Officers who are not computer savvy.<\/p>\n<p>If the case goes up, tapes are easier for federal court judges to use.<\/p>\n<p>In several cases, after the hearing but before the decision was rendered, the HO \/ Administrative Law Judge listened to more (or all) of the tape, and became aware of the negative attitudes and intimidation of parents by school staff.<\/p>\n<p>If the meeting was recorded on mini-cassette tapes and Judge uses a full-size cassette player, we still introduce the mini-cassette into evidence. By agreement, we add the full-size cassette to that exhibit after it is recorded onto the new tape.<\/p>\n<p>If the tape is in a digital format, I would submit an <em>audio CD<\/em> as the &#8220;Best Evidence&#8221;, i.e., the primary exhibit.<\/p>\n<p>I always submit the master tape to the Hearing officer \/Administrative Law Judge and have copies made for the school board attorney, the parents, and me.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Taping Meetings<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Federal law does not prohibit a parent or school official from recording IEP meetings.<\/p>\n<p>There should be no conversation at an IEP meeting that cannot be repeated or taped.<\/p>\n<p>Read <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/?p=1654\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Tape-Recording IEP Meetings<\/span><\/a> for:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>OSEP policy letters citing cases where courts have held that parents have a right to tape record their child\u2019s IEP meeting<\/li>\n<li>Articles and Tips on Taping<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Good luck.<br \/>\n~ Pete<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We are in due process. We&#8217;ve recorded the IEP meetings. Should we use transcripts of the meetings or use the tapes as evidence in the hearing? I always submit tapes <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/iep-faqs-tapes-are-best-evidence-in-litigation\/\">Continue Reading \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,8,5,18,11,136],"tags":[1303,134,163,132,164],"class_list":["post-63","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advocacy","category-faqs","category-idea-2004","category-ieps","category-special-ed-law","category-strategies","tag-documentation","tag-due-process-hearing","tag-evidence","tag-iep-meetings","tag-tape-recording"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16718,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63\/revisions\/16718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}