The Trial Technologist's View » Trial Review

Mast Climber Scaffold Collapse Trial

admin — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 15:10:37 +0000

Last week I provided trial presentation services for a group of plaintiff firms in Austin, TX. This trial was different and interesting due to it being a bench trial. I’ve never been involved in a case where a judge was asked to award $50million in a wrongful death lawsuit.

The most shocking part is these climbers are built in someone’s backyard, without the requirement of an engineer. The platforms in this case were held on by two bolts… two bolts. And the “manufacturer” used the wrong bolts. Extremely sad but alarming trial.

You can checkout another news story and video during the trial at YNN news.

Still no ruling yet!

The Perfect Low Cost Courtroom Document Camera (Elmo)

admin — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 18:17:26 +0000

Two years ago we purchased a couple of these AVerMedia document cameras. We needed a very portable doc cam since we move in out and out courtrooms so often. They’ve been real troopers and have help present that evidence that wasn’t scanned in, or the attorney just wants to publish the exhibit in a different manner than Sanction/Trial Director.

There aren’t many options; zoom in/out, auto focus, input selection and on/off, so we’re able to train attorneys how to use it in 30 seconds. The only con we’ve found is there is no arm light, but this typically isn’t an issue in courtrooms.

All you need is a projector and a screen and you’re ready to show all the exhibits your heart desires. Take a look at their website here – http://www.averusa.com

Best Laser Pointer For Your Presentation

Edgar Hernandez — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 18:16:48 +0000

Laser pointers are very useful during presentations, allowing the speaker to point important areas on the display screen from across the room. Red laser pointers are the most common type and use a lower powered light, normally a 650nm wavelength. You can get a common red laser pointer for less than $20 today. Green laser pointers have recently become more popular and are powered by a more powerful laser (usually a 532nm wavelength), making them much more visible that red lasers. Some green laser pointers are more than 50 times more powerful than the red ones, and can even burn paper and cast a visible beam even in a lighted room. The low-end green laser pointers start at about $50 and can go up to several hundred dollars for a more high powered one. We use Green laser pointer on our presentation and they work great they are brighter than the Red lasers and are easier to follow on the screen.

Now since Green lasers are more powerful than the Red one, it is important to keep in mind that people have been arrested for pointing them at planes, at people at sporting events, and at or around law enforcement officers. So use them wisely – laser pointers ARE NOT toys and should not be used in away to cause damage to people or property.

This almost makes me want a Pre..

Blake Boyd — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 17:41:57 +0000

Why is it that the fans are the ones that always come out with the best advertisement for gadgets? And why do big corporations not take notice?

This fan submitted video almost makes me want to buy a pre.. Although I’m still sticking with the iPhone.

World’s Fastest Book Scanner

Edgar Hernandez — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 06:19:35 +0000

Well, this post is more on the Techy side but very interesting. A researcher at the University of Tokyo has developed the world’s fastest book scanner, which uses a “book flipping scanning” method “that does exactly what it sounds like, digitizing 200 pages per minute.” Now imagine having your entire case file scanned in less than half the time of what it would normally take. Pricing and availability has not yet been announced.

World's Fastest Book Scanner

Jury Returns Verdict in Neilesh v. Lawyers Title

Blake Boyd — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 17:32:32 +0000

Last week I ran the technology for this Title insurance claim and the jury came back in our favor (really quickly I’d like to add). This was an interesting matter involving what was a pretty high profile (news link, news link, news link) injunction involving Neilesh’s location from attempting to lease to a gentleman’s club.

This trial was against the title insurance company that had failed to report a covenant that didn’t allow for these types of business’s in this location. Which needless to say, greatly reduced the value of the property.

The technology was basic and simple, although I did have to hook 3 different laptops into the system. The client and the attorney I was working for both wanted to show and manipulate excel spreadsheets live in trial.

Congrats to John Howell of Allen, Stein & Durbin on a well tried case and excellent $1million+ verdict!

Using Social Networks to Gather Evidence

Blake Boyd — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 02:36:50 +0000

Around a year ago I was asked to retrieve as much information from social networking sites as I could regarding an ex-wife in a custody battle. After 10 minutes of searching (I’m internet savvy but I in no way claim to be a PI of any sort) I found a wealth of information about the ex. From that day on I’ve advised clients to search out the social networking sites for any opposing witness they have, you might be amazed at what you can find in the deep bowels of the internet.

What reminded me of how frequently this comes up is a post by Dan Berexa at the Tennessee Law Blog. Dan writes about a man that decided it would be funny to dress as a prisoner for Halloween which the prosecutor was able to use at the sentencing hearing.

The internet is vast, the old commercial AT&T had about “reaching the end of the internet” will never come true. Search and you’ll find.

Jury Awards $70 million in water company dispute

Blake Boyd — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 14:11:20 +0000

For the past month a trial has taken over my life. 300 video clips, 10,000 documents and multiple PowerPoint presentations later the trial has concluded and the jury is back.

While I don’t necessarily agree with the jury’s findings I am proud to have worked on this case. It was very complex and consumed many many man hours on both sides of the fence.

I’ll give some deeper insight into some techniques used through out the trial next week (I’ve already started another trial and although it’s smaller, it’s taking up all of my current free time).

For now, feel free to read about the $70 million dollar verdict from the local newspaper.

Jury Awards $70 million in water company dispute

“Magic Wall” for Courtroom Interaction of Evidence?

Blake Boyd — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:00:25 +0000

During the Election coverage the internet came alive with stories about CNN’s Hologram reporters. But what really grabbed my attention was the “Magic Wall” developed by Perceptive Pixel.

Here at the Bexar County District courthouse they have upgraded 4 courtrooms to include all the latest A/V equipment, which includes a plasma TV that the Magic Wall makes looks primitive.

The systems are designed and implemented by the great folks at William & Mary Law’s Courtroom 21 project. While in trial a few months ago the lead engineer stopped me and asked for my opinion, as I use the system on a regular basis.

My biggest complaint? They opted for a 50″ plasma TV instead of a projector. While I agree it’s more much aesthetically pleasing (and the courtrooms are absolutely beautiful), it’s too small to display documents due to Sanction and Trial Director supporting 4:3 viewing ratio and not 16:9, which all flat screen TV’s display in. But there is one great ability these screens provide.. the ability to “electronically” mark on them.

Since the TV is placed directly behind the witness box, experts can markup any document or graphic that I put on the screen. This really is a great feature, and the “Magic Wall” takes this philosophy 100 steps forward.

Adding a Magic Wall would make courtroom presentations much more interactive. For example, if you were trying a car wreck case, you could load a live feed of google maps and let the attorney or expert zoom in and fly around the accident scene, adding and moving the cars in question. While DLS includes google maps animations in our presentations on a regular basis, they are not dynamic, it’s a set animation which we cannot easily edit once we are in trial. This would not be the case if using a Magic Wall.

Like all the new technology, as of now, ~~we can’t get our hands on one~~ the price tag of $100,000 is far too expensive. But maybe someday soon I’ll be dragging one of these into the courtroom rather than our typical Projector and Screen setup!

News Article from Last Trial

Blake Boyd — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 17:02:36 +0000

Today the latest case we provided litigation support in was reviewed and written about in the local paper and online.

If you’re interested you can find the article HERE. I find it somewhat disturbing when news reporters cover a case that they did not attend, and get some very very key facts wrong in the article (she states “… a female employee, who also opened a confidential document …” yet, the truth is, by sworn testimony, she never opened the document).

Unfortunately, this seems to happen in every case that we work where the media is involved.