Expanding Technology Horizons

by Jim Dedman, NCDA Director of Academics

At the 2003 Career Prosecutor Course in Charleston, the National College offered an optional evening session on courtroom technology focusing on some intermediate to advanced features in Microsoft’s Power-Point program, which make it much easier to create more sophisticated argument visuals. Most of the prosecutors attending this evening session brought their own laptop computers. The growing interest in the use of laptops in trial can be seen in the popularity of the National College’s Visuals for Today’s Prosecutors publication and the Visuals Improving Prosecution CD of PowerPoint examples. Information on these two publications can be found on the college’s Web site: www.law.sc.edu/ncda/.

The National College has been teaching the importance of “real and demonstrative evidence” since its inception over 30 years ago, and has watched as the technology has developed to the extent that individual prosecutors or support staff can produce impressive trial graphics in a very short period of time. However, familiarity with hardware and software used to produce trial graphics has also led to innovations in other aspects of prosecution. At the Charleston evening session, NCDA faculty member Phil Smith demonstrated how to create electronic discovery using multi-page TIFFs (a graphics format) created by using the widely available freeware graphics program Irfanview. At the National College’s Courtroom Technology course, prosecutors learn how to use freeware audio editors to make their own clips from 911 calls or recorded statements and how to synchronize video clips with typed transcripts using litigation software such as Sanction II.

The National College is frequently asked about the expense of technology and hardware and software requirements. Several years ago the answers would have been much different than they are today. A prosecutor armed with a laptop computer, a relatively small investment in commercial software, several good freeware programs and a projector, can significantly increase juror understanding and comprehension.

Of course, there is a way to speed up the proficiency of those prosecutors. They can bring their laptops to the next National College course where courtroom technology is taught and demonstrated.