By Dan Cicchini, Marion County Prosecutor's Office
Do you want to learn how to use the CJC's new technology? Join the IndyBar, the MCBA and APABA-IN's Nomad training on May 19 and 20! Details and sign ups can be found here.
I recently toured the new Criminal Justice Center. It will be fully operational soon, so if you've not made the trip, do so before you are on the way for a hearing! The campus is sprawling, with a very large parking lot. The closest, publicly available spots are paid lots, but there looks to be ample free parking further from the building. You may need to give yourself more time in case you are parking on the far end of the lot, it will be a bit of a walk.
The biggest difference from the City-County Building (CCB) you will notice when you walk inside is the abundance of natural light. The lobby is large and airy, though it feels like an airport terminal rather than a courthouse. When you enter, you will see large, vertical television screens on your right. Those will direct you to the location of your case, listed by defendant and cause number. There is a central bank of elevators past security, the Clerk's Office and the jury deliberation space that will take you to your specific court.
Once you walk into the jury courtrooms, you’ll notice the differences from the CCB are stark. The jury courtrooms will be a much different experience than our current setup and will hopefully be more user friendly for the jurors and members of the public. When you walk in, there are two columns of pew-style seating for the gallery. The entire room is carpeted and there is glass above the entry doors to allow some natural light into the courtroom. The judge is directly ahead of you (and at least in the room that I toured), the bailiff is on the judge’s right and the witness stand is on the judge's left, next to the jury box. Two large televisions, mounted on the walls, flank either side of the courtroom. They will provide the jury, court and gallery a clear view of the evidence on screen. An excellent new feature of the courtroom is that the jury box has received a substantial technological upgrade. Inside the box, visible only to the jurors, are television screens at approximately knee-height. These screens will enable the jurors to closely scrutinize the evidence on screen. An added benefit is that the court can publish only to the jurors and not the general public. There are additional monitors at counsel table, the witness stand, the judge's bench and in the middle of the courtroom, which is the technological hub.
In the middle of the courtroom, there is a podium with five different ways to connect. You can hardwire with an HDMI cable, use a high-resolution document camera, a traditional desktop computer, a Blu-ray player and connecting over WiFi. The HDMI cable and document camera appear to be the most user-friendly of the five options. An excellent new feature is the ability to "John Madden" your way through witness testimony. At both the witness stand the central technology hub, the monitors have a touch-screen feature where the witness and the attorney can draw on the screen so that the jurors, judge and gallery can see.
Ultimately, the new building's technology is going to be a marked improvement from our current arrangement. The evidence will be more accessible to the parties, their counsel, the court, the public and, most importantly, the jury. The technology was very user-friendly, but practice makes perfect. While many parts of the new building are likely to be a difficult transition, trials should run much more smoothly without the need to wheel televisions in and out of court during lunch breaks.
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