Article: New Trial Requested Because Court Failed to Property Record Trial

Here’s a story from MSNBC entitled, Courtsmart Malfunction May Affect Conviction about an individual requesting a new trial after it was discovered that the court’s recording system (which takes the place of human stenographers) malfunctioned and didn’t properly record his original
trial. Here are some selections from that article:

COLLIER COUNTY [FL]—The Courtsmart system was installed in Collier County almost a year ago and is also being used in Lee, Charlotte and Hendry counties. It’s designed to make a video and audio record of criminal trials. But because of a glitch, the Courtsmart system failed to properly record a Collier County trial. Now the convicted criminal may get a new trial.
Courtsmart is a high-tech recording system that takes the place of human stenographers in the courtroom. It provides an audio and video record of criminal court trials. Courtsmart is supposed to record every word attorneys, judges, even jurors speak.
But at least one criminal court trial in Collier County was not recorded by Courtsmart. The portable units, used while a hard-wire system was installed, didn’t work. “The machine was pausing every three seconds to look for a connection to a computer network– and when it did that, it would cause instantaneous glitch in the recording,” said Kellum.
The skips happened during the trial of 64-year old Raul Trevino who was charged with driving under the influence. During an appeal, the judge and attorneys found out there is no audible record of the proceeding.
An appeals court hasn’t made a ruling yet, but it is likely Trevino will get a brand new trial.

Source: Rorry Perry’s Weblog