E1 See. Hear. Speak.

County Courts Go High-Tech Dealing With Documents
Computerized $300,000 system now in 19 courtrooms
Byline by: Amy Bentley
Correspondent

When Ventura attorney Robert McCord recently argued a civil case at the Simi Valley courthouse, a new computer system inside the courtroom helped him present his side more clearly and saved his client money.

McCord had to show jurors more than 400 documents related to the insurance case. In the past, he would have taken the most important documents to a photocopying shop, paid thousands of dollars for poster-board enlargements, and shown those to the jury as he presented his case.

But this time, McCord used a new, computerized, document-presentation system now in 19 courtrooms in Ventura and Simi Valley. With the new system, McCord simply showed the jury the relevant documents on a projector.

The cost to his client was much less, and, McCord said, jurors later praised the new system.

"The jury is able to see the document, listen to the witness and make the connection," said McCord, of the law firm of Taylor, McCord & Praver.

Officials spent more than $300,000 to bring the technology into the courtroom, said Ventura County Court Executive Officer Michael Planet. The money bought wiring, software and monitors for the witness stand and judge's and attorney's desks in 17 courtrooms in Ventura and two in Simi Valley.

The system is made by ExhibitOne of Chandler, Ariz.

"This is the first step of introducing technology into the courtroom," Planet said.

Mark Borrell, president of the Ventura County Trial Lawyers Association, said document-presentation systems are a great tool for lawyers and jurors.

"People absorb information more effectively when they see it, as opposed to when they hear it. This is how human beings work," Borrell said.

Attorneys say the new system can be used in both criminal and civil cases to present evidence such as documents and videos of injured people or accident scenes. It also has been used to help present jury instructions, Planet said.

He said the courts are training employees in the Public Defender's and District Attorney's offices on how to use the system.

The idea arose about two years ago after McCord traveled to Riverside County for a case and saw the system in a new courthouse there. He mentioned it to a Ventura County judge, and judges and attorneys here then started to discuss the benefits of having such a system.

Local judges, court officials and attorneys later went to Riverside to see the system. A committee was formed, and the Bar Association signed on, McCord said.

Former courts Executive Officer Sheila Gonzalez found the funding, and the system debuted here last month.

McCord's trial, which started in September and ended Oct. 10 with a mistrial, was one of the first where the system was used.

Now, McCord predicted, more and more lawyers will use the system as the word and training spreads.