Savannah Morning News
8/6/1998

HIGH-TECH EVIDENCE SYSTEM TO GET TRIAL RUN
By Ben Schmitt

Local Superior Court judge received $42,000 state grant for system

Real-life courtroom drama can soon be seen on a big screen in Chatham County Superior Court.

The 7-by-7 foot screen will broadcast key evidence, including photographs, crime scene weapons and documents. Tune in Aug.31 to Judge Michael Karpf's courtroom on the second floor of the Montgomery Street courthouse.

Karpf recently received a $42,000 state grant to install the system, called AccessPoint, designed by the Arizona-based ExhibitOne Corp. Only DeKalb County Court uses the same system in Georgia, and just a dozen systems exist in courthouses across the country.

The goal is to make presentation of evidence faster and more effective for lawyers, jurors, judges, spectators and witnesses.

"I really think its going to be a great tool," Karpf said. "It will enable evidence to be presented in a way that's more visible to jurors, on a big screen everyone will be able to see."

The system uses an "ELMO Visual Presenter," which is basically a high-tech overhead projector, to display evidence on the screen. Karpf's bench and the witness box will have separate monitors.

Witnesses and lawyers will be able to draw on documents with a light pen, highlighting certain pieces of evidence. No more will lawyers have to show small photographs to 12 jurors by hand, or draw on blackboards.

"The whole point of this is for jurors to have better access to the evidence," Karpf said.

The system also has a built-in VCR to project videotape evidence, such as police interviews, on the screen.

"That keeps us from bringing all the televisions into courtroom and VCRs that never work when you need them to," the judge said. "It always takes up a lot of time."

Kevin Sandler, president of ExhibitOne, said the system is very lawyer friendly.

"We have attorneys who come in with presentations ready to go on the new systems," he said. "On the other end of the spectrum, there are attorneys with "12:00"still flashing on their VCRs at home. The entry point is very easy for an attorney that's a technophobe."

The court will hold training sessions for lawyers and other judges at the end of the month. Karpf will loan out the courtroom to other superior court judges who wish to use the system for high-profile trials with lots of visual evidence.

"The court is trying to make progressions and move into the year 2000," said Superior Court Administrator Danny DeLoach.

Legal issues reporter Ben Schmitt can be reached at 652-0366.