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Saturday, June 23, 2007

Ind. Courts - Trial is recorded in its entirety by television camera, for the first time in Indiana

Indianapolis WTHR reports:

Indianapolis - "State vs. Paul Fox." Judge Patricia Gifford called the case shortly after 9:30 Friday morning. She would sit in judgment of Paul Fox, a 50-year-old Indianapolis man accused of five felony counts for a confrontation with police at his home the morning of November 12, 2006.

Court trials are not unusual for Judge Gifford. But for the first time in Indiana, this trial would be recorded in its entirety by television camera.

Under the Indiana Supreme Court's pilot program, launched last summer, the defense and prosecution had to agree to let cameras capture the proceedings.

"I didn't care one way or the other," Fox said. "(The camera) didn't make any difference to me."

Fox has been the rare exception during this experiment that's lasted almost a year - a defendant who doesn't mind being accused of breaking laws in front of a judge and tens of of thousands of television viewers. * * *

After 70 minutes, Gifford found for the state, and Fox was instructed to see his probation officer and come back for sentencing on August 3. He and [his attorney, William Wurster] left the court together, then met the gathered television cameras the hallway, along with [Deputy Prosecutor Marie Castetter and legal intern Adam Berry].

All parties agreed the single camera in the back corner of the courtroom did not affect the trial.

"Maybe just knowing the cameras were back there was a little bit nervous," Castetter said, "but after awhile, you just kind of forget they're back there."

"Didn't distract me at all, let's put it that way," Wurster said.

Wurster added that citizens might benefit from seeing how a trial works, "A lot of people are afraid of the system and the process, and this might make them more relaxed."

The Supreme Court will evaluate the pilot project later this year.

The story includes a link to a news clip, the same one that was aired last evening. The ILB was disappointed that WTHR choose to show less than 30 seconds worth of the trial itself, in brief sound bites of less than 10 seconds each, in the course of its 1:53 video story.

For background, see this March 22nd ILB entry.

[More] The Indianapolis Star has posted this AP story.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 23, 2007 08:12 AM
Posted to Ind. Trial Ct. Decisions | Indiana Courts