Word: mccrystal
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Following through on earlier experiments, Common Pleas Court Judge James McCrystal decided that all the testimony in 14 related civil cases should be taken on video tape. As a result, panels of jurors showed up at the courthouse to watch a few hours on the tube, then rendered verdicts without ever seeing a single witness in the flesh. Opening and closing statements plus jury instructions were given live by lawyers and judge. The jurors were otherwise left in the courtroom-glued to a TV monitor...
...LONDON SUNDAY TIMES TEAM; LEWIS CHESTER, CAL McCRYSTAL, STEPHEN ARIS and WILLIAM SHAWCROSS
...number of states, including Wisconsin, Iowa and Colorado. Illinois' Cook County will start the same kind of program this week. In Michigan, seven trials were recently taped live for possible use by appeals judges as a supplement to the written record. But in Ohio, Judge James McCrystal felt that the time had come to prerecord all the testimony for a trial. Attorneys for both sides agreed...
...Judge McCrystal then went over the entire recording in his chambers, considering objections from the two attorneys. Freed of courtroom pressures, he had time to consult precedents, and anything he ruled objectionable was deleted from the tape. On the other hand, if an attorney's objection was overruled, his statement of objection was erased. This system eliminated the common legal trick of introducing improper testimony in the hope that jurors will be unable to forget...
...they doubted that the technique could soon be extended to criminal cases. One reason: a defendant's right to confront his accusers. There were a few minor problems for civil cases too. Conditioned to breaks and commercials, the jurors found the nonstop viewing taxing; next time, said Judge McCrystal, he would order a five-minute recess every half-hour. McCrystal also suggested that to reduce monotony, witnesses should be taped "on location," in their offices, at the accident site, in the hospital. All in all, though, said one juror, "it was much easier to keep my mind on what...