LEGAL AUDIO VISUAL

 

The Audio Visual Department assisted the Court in installing “one of the most advanced videoconference sites in a court in the world,” according to the National Center for State Courts. Established in 1974 as one of the first of such departments in the nation to videotape and play back testimony in court, audio visual technology in the court has grown substantially over the years.

At the urging of the Criminal Justice Advisory Committee, the department set up four videoconferencing stations in 1996 between the Delaware County Courthouse and the George W. Hill Correctional Facility using fiber optic cable leased from Comcast Cable of Delaware County. The Court expanded the system in 1999.

The Court has videoconferenced arraignments since 1984, but the increased number of stations allows the Court to videoconference Violation of Probation and Parole Hearings before Masters and Judges, Extradition Hearings, Bail Modification Hearings and Appeals, and Domestic Relations Hearings. Additionally, the system is used for Bail interviews, Drug and Alcohol interviews, and psychological assessments.

In 2005, the Court began using the videoconferencing system for hearings in Child Sexual Abuse cases during which the child gives testimony to the Court in a separate room from the defendant, who hears and sees the child on a television monitor and can participate in the case.

The benefits of the videoconference systems include cost savings for the Court and County in handling and transporting defendants, greater security in the Courthouse and community, speedier hearings, and fewer jail days for some inmates at the prison.

Additionally, the Court, through the Audio Visual Department, has entered Video Teleconferencing by ISDN lines. The department can present live testimony to a jury in Court or videotape the remote testimony for later playback from locations in the state, nation and internationally. Use in civil cases has been a cost efficient and effective way for private attorneys to present testimony in Court. Video Teleconferencing continued to provide a means to have a criminal hearing with a defendant housed at a State Correctional Institution without transporting the defendant to the Courthouse. This saves the County costs for personnel and travel and for housing charges at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility.

The Court has demonstrated Delaware County’s use of videoconferencing by fiber optics and ISDN lines to more than 30 counties throughout Pennsylvania and other state government agencies, many of whom have begun the application of videoconferencing in their Court.

The department continues videotaping and playing back tapes and DVD's in civil, criminal and miscellaneous cases. This includes doctors, experts, the sick or dying, persons leaving the area, accident or crime scenes, and “A Day in the Life of” recordings.

The department has other responsibilities in the Court. It supplies the courtrooms with audio-visual aids including large screen video projection; slide and overhead projectors; an x-ray viewbox; a replica of a human skeleton; an electronic evidence presenter; and a Courtroom headphone set-up for audio cassettes or CD’s.

The department records and duplicates educational seminars for the Pennsylvania State Court Administrator’s Office to assist in continuing education for Judges and administrators throughout the state.

The duties of Court-Community Relations, which involves keeping the public and press informed on the operation and activities of the Court were absorbed in 1986 by this department. Each year several hundred Court-related stories and photographs are forwarded to and appear in weekly and daily newspapers.

The department also creates in-house brochures and programs for Court ceremonies and assists with Court Web page updates.