Contact: Janet Harvey-Clark, MSU Law Marketing & Communications, (517) 432-6959; or Russ White, MSU Media Communications, (517) 432-0923, whiterus@msu.edu

10/5/2004

EAST LANSING, Mich. – The most technologically advanced moot court room among Michigan’s six law schools will be unveiled at 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 8, at Michigan State University College of Law (MSU Law).

MSU Law began its $600,000 work on the Clif and Carolyn Haley Moot Court Room in August 2004 to upgrade its technology. The law college has a current, up-to-date courtroom system similar to systems that its students and graduates will use in real courts across the country. This newly enhanced facility makes it possible for the law college to prepare its students to be outstanding trial attorneys in an age of technology.

“The use of technology in the court system has drastically risen in the past few years,” said Dean Terence L. Blackburn. “In 1999, the U.S. Courts initiated a nationwide project to equip at least one courtroom in each of the 94 districts with a state-of-the-art evidence presentation and videoconference system. Our law students will now have the opportunity to be fully trained in the strategies of utilizing such systems.

“Having experience with courtroom technology will enable our students to have a definitive advantage in trials that use technology.”

The Michigan Eastern and Western, Ohio Northern and Southern, Illinois Northern, Indiana Northern and Western Wisconsin District Courts are several of the local courts with the system already installed. Both the local and state courts are following suit and installing systems in their courtrooms.

The biggest change is the evidence presentation system (EPS) featuring cameras and screens throughout the courtroom.

"Basically it allows you to take any type of evidence – a DVD or a digital image, hard-copy documents, or physical objects like guns, knives or X-rays – and display it throughout the courtroom so the judge, attorneys, jury, and witnesses can see it," said Jeff Shaw, head of faculty technology services for the college.

"The EPS also allows an attorney or a witness to annotate on the screen with a touch screen, where they can take a finger and circle or underline something," he said. "These cameras have 30 times zoom. For example, you can zoom in on a gun and show the serial number has been filed off, or you can zoom in on counterfeit currency and show the difference from real currency."

The system has LCD flat panels for attorneys, judges and the jury, and large plasma screens for the audience, including one positioned directly behind the witness stand so that it looks more like remote witnesses are really present. There are also new telephone and video conferencing capabilities, as well as video conferencing between the courtroom and two other meeting rooms in the law college building. There are wired Internet connections throughout the room in addition to a wireless network throughout the building.

The courtroom’s technology highlights include:

• An evidence presentation system (EPS), which allows for the presentation, annotation, and recording of evidence. The EPS will allow any type of evidence to be displayed throughout the courtroom and will facilitate both the witness and attorney in annotating any piece of evidence while maintaining the original and court record.

• Strategically placed flat-panel monitors displayed throughout the courtroom, allowing all the participants in the trial to have a clear and unobstructed view of the evidence and courtroom proceedings. The judge will have complete control over what is displayed and can block all screens or limit the display to specific locations.

• Videoconferencing to allow for the use of remote testimony for minors or experts. In order to best utilize the equipment, the MSU Law distance learning room, interview room and board room have been upgraded to fit into the new system adding state-of-the-art audio and video conferencing capabilities to each of the rooms. With these upgrades, the law college will be able to teach its students how to properly cross-examine a remote witness, by far one of the most difficult uses of courtroom technology.

• A customized touch-screen control system, allowing user-friendly icon-based use of the system. The control room located behind the Moot Court Room has the ability to control and assist with all the rooms. The system includes an advanced recording system, which allows court-record recording and special-event archiving, as well as instant reviewing of student performance.

• A jury response system to further increase feedback to students as they practice. This system allows questions to be asked of the jury during the trial and record their responses. This information can then be tallied and reviewed by the students.

“Perhaps one of the most important uses of this technology is remote testimony,” said John Pirich, director of the college’s Geoffrey Fieger Trial Practice Institute, which offers select students intensive trial practice training. “Is it safe to expose jurors, witness, and court personnel to dangerous criminals or terrorists? Should small children be questioned on the witness stand in front of the accused?”

Remote witness presentation makes it possible to take testimony without bringing the witness to the courtroom — a technique that could make trials safer, more efficient, and more economical for everyone.

MSU College of Law was founded as the Detroit College of Law in 1891. To extend its commitment to educational excellence, the college affiliated with MSU in 1995 and moved to MSU’s East Lansing campus in 1997. The move enabled the law college to build state-of-the-art facilities and to provide the benefits of a Big Ten campus.

MSU College of Law strengthened its affiliation with Michigan State University this year, becoming more closely aligned academically. The association between the two schools has led to a comprehensive interdisciplinary legal education program at the law college. Today, the college remains the nation’s oldest continually operating independent law school and one of only two private law schools to be affiliated with a research university.