NCJ Number
5290
Date Published
1972
Length
201 pages
Annotation
SURVEY ON THE AVAILABILITY AND SUITABILITY OF EQUIPMENT, VIDEO RECORDING EXPERIMENTS UNDERWAY IN LOCAL COURTS, AND ATTITUDINAL AND LEGAL BARRIERS TO VIDEO APPLICATIONS.
Abstract
VIDEO TAPE RECORDING IS A NEW TECHNOLOGY WHICH IS BEING CONSIDERED FOR SEVERAL POSSIBLE ROLES TO ALLEVIATE CONGESTION IN THE COURTS. SEVERAL JURISDICTIONS HAVE ADOPTED VIDEO RECORDING AS A MEANS OF OBTAINING EVIDENCE IN VARIOUS TYPES OF CASES, PARTICULARLY TRAFFIC CASES INVOLVING NEGLIGENT DRIVING. COURTS IN MICHIGAN, PENNSYLVANIA, AND ILLINOIS HAVE PERMITTED AND EVEN ENCOURAGED THE USE OF VIDEO-RECORDED DEPOSITIONS DURING TRIAL. EXTENSIVE EXPERIMENTS HAVE BEEN UNDERTAKEN TO EVALUATE THE FEASIBILITY OF PROVIDING A VIDEO RECORD OF TRIAL PROCEEDINGS AS THE OFFICIAL COURT RECORD. DESPITE THE SPREADING USE OF THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY BY THE COURTS, THERE ARE SUBSTANTIVE LEGAL LIMITS TO WIDESPREAD ADOPTION IN MANY JURISDICTIONS. EVEN IN THE SIMPLEST APPLICATIONS, SUCH AS THE PRESENTATION OF EVIDENCE OR DEPOSITIONS, STATUTES OR COURT RULES RESTRICTING ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT IN COURTROOMS MAY PROHIBIT THE USE OF VIDEO SYSTEMS. FOR VIDEO RECORDED TRIAL PROCEEDINGS OR PRESENTATION OF TRIALS TO JURIES BY VIDEO TAPES, THE VERY ADVANTAGES OF THE NEW TECHNIQUE (I.E., REMOVAL OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR HARDCOPY TRANSCIPT) REQUIRE MAJOR CHANGES TO LONG ESTABLISHED MECHANISMS OF TRIAL PROCEEDINGS AND APPELLATE REVIEW. THE OPERATING CHARACTERISTICS AND LIMITATIONS OF REPRESENTATIVE VIDEO RECORDING SYSTEMS AND THEIR COMPONENTS ARE PROVIDED, AS WELL AS COST ESTIMATES FOR VARIOUS SYSTEM CONFIGURATIONS. DETAILED COURT RULES AND STATUTES ON THE ISSUE OF VIDEO TECHNOLOGY IN THE COURTS, REFERENCES, AND OTHER SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS ARE GIVEN IN THE APPENDICES.