A Different Kind of Court TV : High-Tech System May Help Simpson Jurors See Evidence

Much of America will be glued to the tube during the O.J. Simpson murder trial, so why should the people in the courtroom be any different?

Yes, the big screen is coming to the courtroom of Superior Court Judge Lance A. Ito. Make that two really big screens--67-inchers, to be exact--onto which visual evidence will be beamed for the benefit of jurors and courtroom spectators.

The ultra-tech, interactive Evidence Presentation System was loaned to the court by a Los Angeles company called Trial Presentation Technologies, which is hoping to get business from free publicity during the trial, which is to begin next month.

Neither the prosecution nor the defense has yet promised to use the new equipment, which has only been used before in civil cases and will have its criminal case premiere during a less-celebrated murder case Monday.

If attorneys in the Simpson case decide to use the system, they can take advantage of features including:

* Instant translation of a court reporter’s coded shorthand into plain English, which would appear on courtroom computer screens as the reporter typed.

* The 67-inch screens--one for the jury, one for the spectators--capable of displaying evidence including documents, photographs, charts, videos or even animation.

* Computer monitors on the witness stand, on the judge’s bench, and on the defense and prosecution tables, that would be used to view the evidence and the instant testimony.

* Technological wizardry that can superimpose documents on moving pictures. Portions of the documents also can be instantly enlarged or shrunk before the jury’s eyes or circled with a colored light pen by a witness sitting 10 feet away.

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Two consulting companies, also working for free, will be available to advise the lawyers on the pros and cons of the technology--including whether it would be appropriate to display gory crime scene pictures on such huge screens.

It’s not “cyber-justice,” to crib a term Superior Court Judge George Trammell used Friday while describing the technology to reporters, but it is a tool for helping jurors understand sometimes complicated or hard-to-see evidence as it is presented, rather than some time later during deliberations.

Trammell, the court’s in-house computer technology supervisor, has been helping set up court computer systems for about three years and has been using some Evidence Presentation System equipment in his courtroom since June.

He persuaded Ito to take advantage of the technology for the widely watched Simpson case.

Pamela Huenke, managing partner of TPT, said the equipment--which alone would cost as much as $150,000--will be installed before the trial’s scheduled Sept. 19 start and will be available to both sides, even if they choose not to use it.

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Suzanne Childs, speaking on behalf of Deputy Dist. Attys. Marcia Clark, Bill Hodgman and Lisa Kahn, said the prosecutors had not had a chance to examine the TPT system and so did not know if they would take advantage of it.

The same was the case for Robert L. Shapiro, lead attorney for Simpson, who has pleaded not guilty to the June 12 slayings in Brentwood of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Lyle Goldman.

His decision, Shapiro said, will depend on “the type of evidence we use and how we’re going to use it.”

John Swenson, a Los Angeles attorney who is not involved in the Simpson case, has used the technology twice in civil proceedings. He said it “leads to a better administration of the system of justice” because jurors can see evidence such as documents with their own eyes, up close, as it is being presented and testified to.

“Normally they wouldn’t see a document until deliberations,” Swenson said, adding that by that time--in some cases months later--they may have forgotten what the testimony pertaining to it was all about.

The same would be true of photographs and charts, which are now often displayed on a bulletin board just inches away from witness who are testifying, but several feet from some jurors.

The new evidence display methods will require that charts, photographs and other materials be “imaged” and computerized by a TPT technician, who will work for free.

If there are some materials that one side does not want the other to see until the jury does, consultants outside the court will have to prepare them for the computer and they will be entered “under tight security,” Trammell said.

Even with so much high technology in the courtroom, the potential for human error remains.

To minimize the chance of some forbidden document making an unscheduled appearance on the big screen, Judge Ito will be equipped with a “kill switch” that would shut off the equipment instantly.

State of the Art A high-tech computer system will be available in the courtroom during the O.J. Simpson murder trial. The system, with computer monitors at various locations and large-screen displays for he jury and spectators, is being installed by a Los Angeles firm for the duration of the trial. Documents, charts, photographs, videos and animations can be shown on the computer monitors and the larger screens. Here is a look at how the system can be used. *Judge: Reviews transcripts or evidence before they are seen by jury and spectators. *Jury and spectators: View evidence and other items on high-resolution, wide-screen monitors. *Court Reporter: Electronically translates stenographer’s notes into English for showing on the monitors. *Witness: Sees evidence while the same material is shown in other parts of the courtroom. Can also make notes on the monitor using a “light pen” that will be visible to others in the courtroom. *Technology: Evidence is displayed from the main computer after it is admitted by the judge, who can order any monitors turned off at any time. *Attorneys: View transcripts or search for earlier testimony. While at podium, they can annotated evidence with “light pen”. Source: Trial Presentation Technologies