Judge asked to interpret Aisenberg tape

By LARRY DOUGHERTY

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 12, 2000

TAMPA -- Attorneys for Steven and Marlene Aisenberg insisted again Tuesday that conversations secretly taped by investigators inside the couple's Brandon home contain none of the references to cocaine use and violence that prosecutors claim are on the tape.

The attorneys provided a copy of the tape and a transcript to a judge and asked him to decide for himself.

Court clerks did not make the tape available to reporters Tuesday.

The Aisenbergs are charged with lying to investigators about the disappearance two years ago of their 5-month-old daughter, Sabrina. The child has never been found.

The Aisenberg attorneys say their version of a conversation on the tapes has "severe differences" from an incriminating version given to a judge by prosecutors.

Prosecutors claim the conversation in question, recorded on Jan. 21, 1998, went like this:

Marlene: "Mm, hmm. Hon, help me set the table."

Steven: "I wish I hadn't harmed her."

Marlene: "I know."

Steven: "That's the cocaine."

Marlene: "Well, if I'd a been . . ."

The Aisenbergs' version of the same conversation goes like this:

Marlene: "Hon, help me clean up the table."

Steven: "You know, I'm just saying . . . honey . . . because" (Marlene speaks over him)

Marlene: "I know."

Steven: ". . . feel this way . . . people (inaudible)" (Marlene interrupts)

Marlene: "Do you want some more salad, honey?"

In the days after the Aisenbergs said the child had been kidnapped, federal and state investigators placed listening devices in the couple's bedroom and kitchen. Conversations captured on those tapes led to federal charges that they lied to investigators about the disappearance.

The allegation that Steven Aisenberg admitted to cocaine use on the tapes was made by a federal prosecutor at a bail hearing after the Aisenbergs were arrested, and is not a part of the charges against him. Defense attorneys insist the word is not on the tapes and have focused on it as they attack the credibility of the government's case.

The attorneys said they want a judge to correct the "falsities" prosecutors have said about the tape.

The attorneys declined to comment Tuesday. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office also declined to comment.

-- Times staff writer Larry Dougherty can be reached at (813) 226-3337 or dougherty@sptimes.com.

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