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Example research essay topic: Audio And Video Time And Money - 2,628 words

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Introduction In an era of unyielding and universal multimedia messaging, words hardly ever stand alone. The power of spoken language and the guidance of the written word aren't to be overlooked, but they shouldn't be considered the exclusive format for effective courtroom communication. We are well past the point when technical proficiency is considered unsuitable to the professional status of lawyers. With technological incompetence, jurors are no longer amused. There is growing impatience with multimedia illiteracy because digital technology has brought media virtuosity into the homes of every computer carrying young adult in the western world, with substantial trickle-up to their parents. Try as some may, there is no insulating trial advocacy from the changes our culture's emersion in electronic media have brought in the ways we receive, process and retain information.

Today, our world is media-rich, multichannel, and sensorial. We get sounds, moving images, words, and still pictures in a cyclorama of subliminal persuasion, entertainment, and information. The trial of OJ Simpson had an unexpected consequence, in that it raised our general awareness of the significance and use of various kinds of courtroom technology. Of the many unforgettable images of the trial, some of the most memorable are the scenes of judge Ito's courtroom buzzing with computers, monitors, cameras, tape decks, projectors, presentation devices, microphones, audio and video switchers, and the tangle of wires and cables that connected them all to each other and, ultimately, to the world. What the members of the general public may be oblivious of, however, is that the hardware and software they observed in use in the Simpson trial are just one link in a chain of new technologies that have revolutionized courtroom litigation and the practice of law and these new technologies hold the promise of great changes to come, as well. Ironically, even the largest of law firms, with their buttoned-down traditions and conservative images, have been slow to react to and adopt technological changes that allow them to conserve both time and money, and help preserve rain forests in the bargain.

Court 21 What does the well-equipped "smart courtroom" contain? Court 21, a joint project of the William & Mary School of Law and the National Centre for State Courts, is billed as the "The World's Most Technologically Advanced Courtroom. " The Courtroom 21 Web site provides a 32 -item list of the mechanisms that make up the courtroom of the future, some of which are truly astonishing. They include six remote-controlled cameras that can be synchronised to the real-time transcript, consecutive translation of up to 140 languages using AT&T's Language Line, first appearance and remote arraignment via two-way television, bench and table access to federal and state statutory and case law via CDROMs, dial-up access to WestLaw and Lexis/Nexis Law Plus electronic filing, a wall-installed 40 -inch Sony monitor for computer and video display, additional 20 -inch monitors for the bench and the jurors, Microsoft NT computer networking, visual presentation devices, and more. One might think that all this technology is what leads to the crowded scenes of judge Ito's courtroom, but that is not the case in Courtroom 21. The technology is designed to be as unobtrusive as possible and fit in with the walnut panelling and furniture that comprises the courtroom decor.

Additionally, the total costs for all the technology are less than half of the potential cost of the technology in judge Ito's courtroom, which was estimated to be around $ 250 million. Digital Evidence Digital evidence (often known as electronic evidence) is a term meaning evidence stored by, generated by, or presented by high technology, primarily computers. The broad public use of computers, personal digital assistants, wireless Internet technology, and e-mail means that every sort of crime, from harassment to homicide and from drug dealing to securities fraud, increasingly involves digital evidence. Furthermore, the increasing size and complexity of major criminal trials, the rapid pace of technological revolution, and the rise of the high-tech courtroom ensure an ever-expanding use of digital evidence in the investigation and trial of suspected offenders. Every lawyer must, therefore, know how to find evidence hidden in the bowels of computer networks and how to make multimedia presentations at trial. The trial lawyer's three broad tasks are investigation, suppression, and presentation: find convincing evidence; suppress what is harmful while admitting what is helpful; and seize the jury's attention by powerful trial theatre.

Computer technology has, however, changed the way that juries think, the legal categories for suppression, and the means for finding the smoking gun. But suppression and investigation are mere tools to reach the jury. The digital jury is the heart and soul of the digital trial. The training and natural inclination of criminal trial lawyers promote traditionalist, linear approaches to presenting evidence. A lawyer presents exhibits one at a time through "foundational" witnesses.

They organise their cases to prove the "elements" identified through standard legal research. This sort of organisational logic is important in planning cases and convincing judges. Yet anyone who has sat through a complex, document-heavy case can attest to the mind-numbingly dull presentations that are common. Jurors at such trials can do nothing but see the task of digesting the information as a laborious, if necessary, job. At the same time, however, many jurors have been taught, starting from childhood, to aspire to linear thinking. Departing too far from their training might result in juror confusion.

To be forced to choose between boredom and clarity, however, seems like no real choice at all. The New Hyperlinked Culture Younger or more computer-literate jurors create a different headache for trial lawyers. These jurors embrace a flexible, creative, but nearly chaotic "hyperlinked culture. " Jurors willing to see connections based on free-form association may have trouble assigning evidence the probative value it deserves. In this new world, the user is interested less in collecting what is important than in connecting to as much information as possible. Indeed, the members of hyperlinked culture may be ill suited to the extended concentration on one task that the criminal trial requires. Neuroscience researchers recognise that "our brain literally changes its organisation and function to accommodate the abundance of stimulation forced on it by the modern world" via television, cell phones, e-mail, and the computer.

The result, conclude these neuroscientist's, is an epidemic of attention deficit disorder, " 'the official brain syndrome of the information age. New-brained jurors have short attention spans, are easily bored, and resist understanding others' feelings and thoughts, such as the plight of a criminal defendant or the victim. Yet the very sorts of techniques that hold their attention harm their ability to understand and recall trial testimony. Even worse, they wrongly believe that they do these things well, reducing their motivation to change. Paradoxically, the solution to these problems may lie in the computers that give rise to them.

Digital technology can combine the clarity of library culture and the vigour of hyperlinked culture. Digital presentation methods also aid lawyers, not merely jurors, in organising complex cases. Lawyers facing a vast body of data may have problems quickly accessing and presenting relevant information. Modern digital presentation methods, however, enable lawyers to create their own systems that are tailored to the needs of a specific case. Such systems enable a lawyer to swiftly find relevant document portions, deposition testimony, and photographs for cross-examination. Next, he or she can quickly organise the evidence for presentation in the clearest, most persuasive fashion.

The digital system is adaptable, allowing for instant changes as the trial unfolds and easy response to new tactics. Digital systems help the lawyer to fuse the organisational precision of the library culture with the momentum and vision of hyperlinked culture and, studies have shown, thereby dramatically to shorten the length of trials. Shorter trials, and better-informed and engaged jurors, are a bargain worth the costs of learning to master the new technologies. In the Michael Skakel trial for the murder of Martha Money, the instant accessibility of photographs, diagrams, and other visual aids allowed prosecutors to tell a seamless story without long interruptions while locating and properly presenting exhibits.

The case against Skakel was old, lacked strong forensic evidence, and prosecutors did not have eyewitnesses who could unequivocally place the defendant at the scene of the crime. Skakel claimed that he was elsewhere at the time. All in all, the prosecution faced a difficult task in persuading a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that Skakel was the murderer. The prosecution team, however, did have something unusual going for it: a highly customised interactive multimedia evidence presentation system.

The prosecution's effective use of visual persuasion was crucial and could very well foretell the trial advocacy of the future. A trial lawyer's graphics should be part of his or her overall strategy, supporting the advocate's case theory and improving the judge's and jurors' understanding and retention of the information the advocate presents. Graphical presentations are the trial lawyer's opportunity to communicate in a way that jurors, increasingly immersed in visual stimuli in their everyday lives, are familiar with and have come to expect. In the case against Skakel, the prosecution worked with visual communication consultants to design a customised, comprehensive visual toolbox on CD-ROM that included over 100 crime scene and autopsy photographs, documents, diagrams, and digitised audio and video recordings. The toolbox was fully interactive. All of the items of graphical and audio evidence were available at any point during the trial to use whenever the prosecutors needed them.

This customised evidence presentation system improved the conduct of the trial in a number of ways. First, it avoided the expenditure of valuable trial time customarily spent passing the document, photograph, or other demonstrative evidence individually from one juror to the next, and possibly to the judge. Instead, each item could be presented more or less instantaneously. Second, displaying the information on a large screen in the courtroom for all to see focused trial participants and observers on the substance of the testimony.

Third, the presentation format eliminated any possible ambiguity as to what particular part of the photograph or document was being discussed. The witness could simply point to the desired part of the image on the screen by using a laser pointer, and the lawyer could do likewise by using a remote-controlled mouse. Moreover, having all visual, textual, and auditory information available on demand enhanced the prosecution's trial advocacy by making possible a flawless performance in which the prosecution could elicit information from the witness stand and either support or contradict it through whatever medium was best suited to do the job. Visual communication should be used at trial for three purposes: to clarify, to captivate, and to convince.

The prosecutors in this case used their visual toolbox for all three purposes. Forensic Animation Forensic animation is the use of computer animation to re-create crime scenes or traffic accidents, and even to show judges and juries how specific medical procedures and events occurred. Forensic animation got a boost with the tragic accident involving Princess Diana. CNN had a re-creation of the accident on the air rather quickly and attempted to show what network "experts" thought had occurred. Granted, this was a crude demonstration as to how the accident transpired, and the quality of the animation was far from impressive, but all those who saw this had a picture in their minds as to what this network wanted us to see and believe.

In a recent unreported case, someone filed suit against an architect for an improper design of a bridge. An animator took the blueprints, created a wire-frame drawing and constructed the bridge with the computer. Then, with the help of an engineer, he found that the bridge was designed properly. In fact, there had been an accident involving a vehicle colliding with a support column, which was not reported to the authorities until after the suit began.

The animator then re-created the truck accident to show the damage to the bridge and its residual effects. The medical malpractice suit is one that all doctors fear. Patients sign releases acknowledging what might go wrong, yet there are still people out there who sue, and sometimes win their cases. If you could show a judge or jury why there are stated risks and, through the use of animation, show how and why the patients particular situation occurred, you can save all parties involved both time and money. Forensic animation is growing in popularity due to its cost effectiveness.

The price of creating animations is more affordable than ever because of the advancement of technology and the increased number of qualified animators. Captivating the jury Sometimes placing certain evidence before the jury is necessary, but the tedious nature of the evidence, or the time it takes to present it, can cause the jury to lose attention and interest. When crucial information is hidden deep within this evidence, the trial lawyer needs to attract the jury's interest and hold it long enough so that jurors pay sufficient attention to the information that is most important During closing argument, the trial lawyer is responsible for marshalling the evidence in the light most favourable to his or her client. To do otherwise would be to ignore the advocate's professional duty. For the court to prevent a trial lawyer from doing this would impair the adversarial nature of the trial system. Obviously, the primary restriction on this duty is that the argument be based on the evidence.

Jonathan Benedict's (state attorney and lead prosecutor in the Skakel case) closing argument was indeed based on the evidence, and it was exceptionally persuasive. His talent as an orator had a good deal to do with this. It is what led Jeffrey Toobin to describe the summation as "chilling, riveting, and unforgettable. " (Crossfire [CNN television broadcast, June 7, 2002 ]) In addition, Benedict used the customised multimedia presentation system to great effect. The graphics and audio with which Benedict accompanied his summation helped him to "connect the dots for jurors, " and thus marshal the evidence to convince the jury of Skakel's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Thus, using the interactive multimedia toolbox, Jonathan Benedict "did what lawyers are supposed to do in summation. He took different parts of the evidence, brought it all together and made you see it in a new way. " (Crossfire, supra. ) Storytelling In The New Legal Matrix It has however been argued that, just because one can, does not mean that one should. Technology may be fun and impressive, and jurors, especially those from the MTV-generation, may come to expect to be entertained with a computer-generated simulation of the crime. But the prosecutor and defence counsel who are considering the investment of money, time, and credibility in creating a piece of digital evidence should first ask whether this will get in the way of their primary job, which is to tell a story.

The courtroom remains the one place in our society where a good story can be told, without disruption, without the audience changing channels or leaving the room. The jury wants to hear a good story, stripped down to its best elements, but with the appropriate emotion intact. Though many jurors aspire to the hierarchical thinking of the library culture, they also render verdicts based on the rules for telling a good tale. Juries are interested in the characters of the trial players as if they were in a television soap opera. They turn the evidence into tales consistent with their own life experiences and sense of a story that "rings true. " Indeed, they make sense out of colossal, often dull, trial information by looking for story themes that explain the evidence commonsensical ly.

These themes work subconsciously, giving them emotional power. Does Technology Help...


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Research essay sample on Audio And Video Time And Money

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