In this era of fewer trials, if you still find yourself in
front of a jury now and then, you may have noticed a few upgrades to some of
our courtrooms. You’ll find equipment installed and available in many Federal
courtrooms, and some Superior courtrooms as well. It’s a good idea to check
into this well in advance if you are going to trial, in order to determine
what (if anything) is available, and what you’ll need to bring in order to make
it work for you. You should also test the actual system. There is no good
excuse for not being able to present your Opening Statement due to equipment
issues.
Most courtroom presentation installations will accept a VGA
connection and an audio cable that fits into a headphone jack. Some of the
newest systems have HDMI connections. These feature full HDMI capability, but usually
also include the older VGA option. In either case, you should test your laptop
and should know how to make it connect to various audio and video ports.
Although HDMI also carries the audio signal, most laptops can be configured to
send it via the headphone port if desired, even when using the HDMI for video. In a recent setup, I needed to add a speaker set, since the installed courtroom audio system was not loud enough.
In most cases, you won’t need to bring much with you, and in
some cases, you may not be permitted to supplement the court’s setup. One large
screen and a projector are still the most effective method of getting everyone
to look in the same place at the same time, and you can also use a laser
pointer if desired. That stated, some courts don’t have a projector and screen,
and some will not allow you to bring one in.
In my experience, the Courts generally have a technical
person available to offer training and limited assistance on their system. It’s
not their responsibility to know how your laptop or iPad works however, so you’ll
need to know how to configure your own computer. If you’re planning on running
an iPad via Wi-Fi, you’ll need to provide everything required to make that
happen.
Many courtrooms have little or no equipment, so you’ll have
to bring and install everything. This is generally shared with opposing
counsel, along with associated costs. A couple of earlier articles on this blog
include details for typical courtrooms, and for larger courtrooms.
Of course, if you have better things to occupy your time, a
Trial Presentation expert can take care of all of this for you. Since they are
in trial more than most attorneys, they can help ensure that you have the best available
option set up and ready to go, and can assist during trial.
