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Thursday, September 27, 2012
Ind. Courts - Details about the video transcripts project now released
Little has been made officially available about the "pilot project for audio/visual recordings in lieu of paper transcripts in preparation of the record and briefing on appeals" sponsored by the Supreme Court.
The ILB had entries reporting the reaction of local courts involved in the program on July 25th ("Courtroom Cameras On Trial 5 Cameras, 9 Mics Tested In Pilot Program") and July 30th ("Local courtroom one of three in state testing video transcripts").
Now the Supreme Court has made available the 8-page order, filed Sept. 18, 2012, but effective July 1, 2012, authorizing the project. Some items of interest [emphasis by ILB]:
- p. 3. The record of trial court proceedings shall consist of two (2) simultaneously created audio/visual recordings.
- p. 4. Trial Event Log. The court reporter, judge or a designee shall keep a Trial Event Log within the accompanying software for the equipment. The Trial Event Log shall indicate:
1. where each witness’ direct, cross, or redirect examination begins and ends;
2. where each exhibit is offered into evidence and the court’s ruling on the admission of each exhibit begins;
3. where voir dire and jury instructions begin and end, in jury trials;
4. where opening and closing statements begin and end; and,
5. where pre-trial hearings begin and end with a brief synopsis identifying the nature of the hearings. - p. 4. Access to the Audio/Visual Recording. Prior to the filing of a Notice of Appeal, parties may request, and at the trial court’s discretion, the Court may provide to the parties a copy of the Audio/Visual Recording provided that the parties supply their own media for copying purposes. Such copy shall be provided at no cost to the parties. Notwithstanding the provisions of Ind. Administrative Rule 9 (H) prohibiting public access to court records and pursuant to the authority vested in this Court by the Indiana Access to Public Records Act, I.C. 5-14-3-4(a)(8), the Audio/Visual Recording and any copies shall be deemed confidential and not subject to public access until after the court proceeding has been concluded and all direct appeals have been exhausted.
- p. 5. Citations to Audio/Visual Recording. Each reference in a brief to a segment of the Audio/Visual Recording (hereinafter A/V Rec.) shall set forth in parentheses “A/V Rec.” and include the following: the number of the diskette or tape, and the month, day, year, hour, minute, and second at which the reference begins as recorded in the A/V Rec. For example: (A/V Rec. No. 1; 08/30/86; 09:22:26). Parties may not cite to any paper transcript within briefs, appendices, addendums, and petitions filed with the court on appeal.
- p. 5. Other Documents. All briefs, appendices, addendums, and petitions filed with the court on appeal in cases being appealed from a participating court during the term of the pilot project shall be filed in paper format as required under the Rules of Appellate Procedure. Parties are also encouraged to file these documents electronically (see Appellate Rule 43(K)).
- p. 6. For this pilot project, the following additional provision shall apply: In the fifteen (15) criminal cases chosen for this pilot project appealed from Marion Superior Court, Criminal Division 6 (Major Felony), the party filing the Notice of Appeal shall also request and make payment for a paper transcript to be prepared by the court reporter (in accordance with the Rules of Appellate Procedure). Criminal felony cases files must be retained in a permanent medium and microfilmed pursuant to Administrative Rule 6(G)(3) or, if maintained electronically, they must be kept so that a hard copy can be generated at any time. See Trial Rule 77(J). The paper transcripts are necessary in order to comply with the current permanency standard for felony case files. However, the parties shall not cite to the paper transcript and are strongly encouraged not to use the paper transcript in the preparation of the briefs on appeal. In these fifteen (15) pilot project criminal cases, these transcripts will be maintained and preserved as part of the appellate record along with the audio and audio/video recordings.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on September 27, 2012 03:30 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts