New Time-Saving Technology and the Use of Videotaped Proceedings (From Expeditious Justice, P 119-144, 1979 - See NCJ-86298)

• NCJ Number: 86302
• Author(s): J G Moore
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 6 pages
• Language: English
• Country: Canada

Annotation

Problems with videotaped evidence grow from the fact that the videotape may contain very little evidentiary value in relation to the time required to view the evidence, but these problems can be resolved.

Abstract

Because a videotape of evidence may contain very little evidentiary value in relation to the time required to view the evidence, a printed transcript of the videotaped evidence is required; the transcript and the videotape are to be cross-referenced; and when the procedure involves pretrial evidence, the videotape must be held in the possession of an independent party satisfactory to the court and counsel. In the United States, most of these problems have been solved by private court reporters extending their services to include videotape facilities to record deposition proceedings. The court reporter, together with an assistant to operate the videotape camera, attend and record the deposition in shorthand as well as on the videotape film. The court reporter is filmed together with the counsel and the witness to be examined. At the conclusion of the examination, the court reporter takes possession of the videotape and holds it until the printed transcript is prepared. When the printed transcript is to be certified, the court reporter includes a jurat that the videotape marked as an exhibit to the transcript is the original unedited videotape of the proceedings contained in the printed transcript and that it has remained in his possession until filed. The court reporter then delivers the original transcript and the videotape directly to the clerk of the court to be filed and provides copies of the printed transcript to all parties, together with a copy of the videotape when requested. The cross-references of the videotape and transcript can be accomplished by imposing a digital time clock in the upper lefthand corner of a duplicate videotape and then preparing a transcript cross-referenced to the time clock in 10-second intervals. The appendix provides a sample printed transcript indexed to a videotape time clock reading.