The courtroom is a result of the vision and hard work of Administrative Judge James Tormey and his legal and technical staff.  Although the NYS Office of Court Administration encouraged development of technology in the courtroom, OCA failed to provide the funds needed to fully implement a courtroom of the future.  Judge Tormey searched every nook and cranny of the Fifth District’s budget to come up with the necessary additional funds.  The courtroom cost well in excess of $200,000 to implement.

            It is not insignificant to mention that the grandeur of the original courtroom was preserved.  The major structural changes to the courtroom involved raising the floor of the area used by counsel to accommodate extensive wiring required for the technology devices.

            Fundamentally, the courtroom provides improved audio with provision for hard-of-hearing and foreign language interpreters, and the ability to record the proceedings and, at the end of the day, burn an audio CD of the proceedings.  There is also state-of-the-art video presentation capabilities.  Each juror has his or her own LCD screen to view the video as do each of three counsel tables, the judge, and the clerk.  Two large “white boards” provide video to the gallery and/or the jury.

            All of this is controlled at the podium where audio levels are set and input devices are selected.  In addition, the judge has an override that provides the ability to shut down both the audio and video to the jury and the public white boards.  When the judge implements the override, counsel, the witness, the judge and the podium still have video input.

Input is possible from virtually any type of electronic input device.  Currently, the installed devices include a VCR and a Document Camera.  Hookups for computers or other devices are located at the podium, counsel tables, the judge and the clerk.  Once a computer is connected to the system, Power Point (or similar) presentations are possible as are other forms of computer output such as audio clips, video clips, still pictures, diagrams, simulations and on-and-on.

            The Document Camera is a powerful tool.  It allows for projection of almost any type of document.  It also may be used to present a physical object if such object is no bigger than a breadbox.  Actually the lens can be rotated to view a large object or person standing next to the camera. This might possibly be useful if the objective is to focus on a small area of the large object and present that to the jury.  The camera has different lighting modes so that x-rays can be presented with backlighting.

            In addition to the audio/video presentation capabilities, there is an “overlay” capability.  This allows the podium, the witness or a presenter at the large white board to add annotations, diagrams, arrows or virtually any other type of mark to the video image currently being displayed.  The marks can be made in different colors to differentiate the person doing the marking or to suit some other purpose.  When markings are applied in this manner they may be preserved by printing the image with the markings.

            A sophisticated analog printer is built into the system.  This may be one item causing heartburn for the clients.  The printer paper is very expensive—approximately $5 per page.

            The courtroom is also set up for, but not yet equipped with, video teleconferencing.  This could allow for testimony to be taken remotely in real time.

            Courtroom procedure is still being developed by the judges who use the courtroom.  For example, even before the first trial, Judge Centra noticed that the judge’s override shut down the witness’ screen.  This made it impractical for the witness to authenticate a document located at the podium and projected onto the screens.  The override was adjusted to allow the witness to see the document.  The jury and the public would receive no video signal until the document was accepted into evidence.  Only a few trials have taken place to date.  These have not generated any procedural crises.