Prerecorded Videotaped Trials

 

With news that jury trials are being delayed once again due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it is useful to resurrect some early court technology used by the Erie County Common Pleas Court, General Division in Sandusky, Ohio from the '70s and later.

The following is a report that my NCSC colleagues, Peggy A. Walsh and Kevin P. Kilpatrick, Staff Associate published as part of the Court Technology Reports, 1990 publication available in PDF in our Library eCollection here.

If you read this article, please remember that this was done in the time of analog (meaning tape) recording media and way before the internet was generally available to the public and the courts. It is much easier to accomplish this in 2022 and therefore the core concepts are worth considering and updating as another potential tool for court trials. 

15 Months

 

Abraham Lincoln as a young lawyer

Stating the obvious, since March 2020 we have seen massive changes in court and work/office organization and communications.  The pandemic forced changes to process, office, and data design that embrace the new virtual environment.  But first, we must discuss some pushback.

COVID, the Court, and the Future of the Jury Trial Summit

 

A free virtual summit is scheduled to be held on Friday, November 13 and continue the following Friday, November 20 from 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM EST each day.

The summit is being organized by the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) and the Online Courtroom Project.  The conference writes “As courts around the country have struggled to continue operations in the face of the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic, each state and the federal courts have issued their own set of guidelines to try and resume trials. However, each jurisdiction, and each judge has also implemented their own set of practices, given their resources, staffing, budget, and judgment. While most of these national, regional, and individual practices have been conducted on a trial and error basis, the goal of this conference is to provide practical recommendations on procedures, resources, and skills for both courts and attorneys who are looking to conduct jury trials in this challenging time.

This conference is free of charge. Attendees are encouraged to donate to a designated charity to assist underserved communities gain greater access to technology and the internet.

For more and to sign up go to https://www.nita.org/summit-about

 -

The photo above is from the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida’s Virtual Court Resources by Division/Case type web page at:

https://www.jud11.flcourts.org/Court-Announcements/ArtMID/584/ArticleID/3567/Virtual-Court-Resources-by-Division-Case-Type

 

 

Tips to Reduce Ransomware Risk and More…

 

 

In this post we share tips to protect you from malware, Harris County’s new Covid-10 juror procedure video, the new Zoom language interpretation service, and a web page showing how Covid-19 aerosol dispersion works.

Are Current Courthouses Wrong for the Post Pandemic World?

The Covid-19 Pandemic has been an opportunity to re-examine how courts and legal business is done.  We have written many articles about new ideas and experiments in recent months. Now it is time to think long-term about courthouses themselves as they are the second biggest expense after the judges and staff?  Let’s begin:

First remote jury trial shows potential for widespread use

From @the Center newsletter by the NCSC on May 5, 2020

Let the record show that history was made at 8 a.m. CDT Monday, May 18, 2020, in northeast Texas, where 26 potential jurors met in the comfort of their homes for the nation’s first-ever remote jury trial, presided over by two judges, one of whom was making sure the technology worked the way it should.

What technology will courts be using in 5 years’ time?

Hon. Judge Andrea Tsalamandris

We are pleased to share the following post from our friend, the Hon. Judge Andrea Tsalamandris from Melbourne, Australia on "how technology can be used by judges and court administration to create efficiencies in our courts, and enhance access to justice.

This and That in Court Tech and CTC Announcement – June 2019

We are pleased to share that renowned author Richard Susskind will be the keynote speaker at the CTC 2019 Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana on September 10, 2019.  That and news about the New Mexico OneSource system, an upcoming podcast by my colleagues on blockchain, a “Jury Bot” system, a call for judicial technical competence, and my experience with the latest Windows 10 feature update, are in this month’s compilation of tech news.

Multi-Use Jury Assembly Rooms?

https://allaccesssys.com/jury-assembly-rooms/ 

For many years we have looked for ways to be able to “reuse jury assembly rooms”. Many jury assembly rooms consume a significant floorspace in courthouses simply because they need to be able to seat large numbers of persons at one time.  But the seating requirement is often only needed a few times per week or even per month.  Therefore, we have looked for ways to be able to easily divide these large spaces so that they can be used for other purposes.  A possible solution to the “dividing room problem” presented itself when I saw the Skyfold system.  n this post, I want to share some ideas as to how one might be able to apply it to your current or new courthouse.

This and That in Court Technology - May, 2017

New US Courts Jury Kiosks

In this month's news we learn about Michigan's E-filing RFP award, two new court tech announcement from the US Federal Courts, new ideas from the Open Law Lab blog on service process in Massachusetts, the Supreme Court of India's new CMS/E-filing system, the 2016 Judicial Effectiveness Index for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and about the 2017 E-Sign Records Conference to be held in San Francisco later this year.

Courtrooms - How to Get Quiet

We used to say about computers that you can never have too much RAM or too much disk space.  Similarly in courtrooms one cannot make them too quiet.  We discuss why and how on this below.

US Federal Judiciary Cites Technology for Efficiency

US Federal Courthouse in Denver

In a press release on July 6, 2016 the US Federal Courts cited multiple court technology initiatives as part of their overall efficiency and cost reduction strategy.

This and That in Court Technology – Early Summer 2016

At the beginning of summer 2016, we share court technology news from the IACA European Regional Conference, Mississippi mobile access to justice app plans, online juror research restriction, Colorado online court information access questions, and a really big new computer monitor.

McMillan Award 2015 Finalist – Miguel Navarro

In the second of three articles recognizing McMillan Award finalists, we present Miguel Navarro from the ITO Central Office in the Administrative Office of the Courts in Trenton, NJ and his (and Robert Jacobsen’s) CTC-2015 presentation.

Macomb County Clerk and Uber Partner to Deliver Jurors to Courthouse

Via press release, Macomb County, MI (June 30, 2015)

"In Macomb County, a jury summons now comes with a driver, providing on-demand transportation to and from the Courthouse. Macomb County Jurors will receive an Uber code good for a $20 ride each way or $40 round trip to and from the courthouse.  In most cases, the code will cover the full cost of a ride.  The ride must start or end at the Macomb County Circuit Court Building in Mount Clemens, and the cost will depend on the distance from a juror’s home.

Standards for Jury Management System Requirements

The Joint Technology Committee has developed a national standard for jury management.functional requirements that serve as a great starting point for courts developing or acquiring a new Jury Management System.

More This and That in Court Technology for October, 2014

This has been an especially busy month in Court Tech.  We share what we learned in this second edition for October, 2014.

Jury Social Media Responsibility Poster

Our friends at the Center for Jury Studies here at the NCSC have developed a poster for Jurors on their responsibilities regarding the Internet and Social Media.  You can download a PDF copy by clicking here.

Pre-CTC 2013 This and That in Court Technology

CTC-2013 Coming Soon

Baltimore Convention Center

We are looking forward to seeing everyone at CTC-2013 next week in Baltimore, Maryland (September 17-19).  We will try to post a note or two but as any of you who have attended the conference knows, it is a busy time.  Keep an eye on the NCSC Twitter account (@StateCourts) and the conference website at: http://ctc2013.com/ for news.

For more this and that click on the read more link below …

Corpus Christi Municipal Court issues RFP

The City of Corpus Christi “City”, Texas Municipal Court is seeking proposals from qualified Proposers for a MUNICIPAL COURT AUTOMATED CASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.  The court will also consider jury system functionality as part of this RFP.

Vendors interested in responding will need to register via the Public Purchase website at: http://www.publicpurchase.com/gems/cctexas,tx/buyer/public/home  This same website will be used to upload responses to the RFP.