|
|
eCourtrooms
New Castle County
Kent County
Sussex County
Superior Court's first
eCourtroom was operative in 1999 when the Delaware
State Bar Association teamed up with vendors to design and implement
what was purported to be the nation's first actively used courtroom.
Designated the eCourtroom,
the Superior Court of Delaware used this experimental courtroom in Wilmington,
Delaware to hold civil trials. It served the court as a testing ground
for technologies and designs before final plans were made for the new
New Castle County Courthouse, were the court moved in 2002.
Three
of our sixteen New Castle County Superior Court courtrooms are enhanced
with additional courtroom presentation equipment. Courtrooms 8B, 8C and
6D are our hi-tech courtrooms. The courtroom's design assures that all
courtroom participants benefit from the use of the hi-tech equipment.
The hub of the hi-tech installation in New Castle County Superior Court
is
a SMART
Board® projection system combined with a
Crestron control system.
Documents and video
can be viewed on the witness' monitor, counsel table
monitors,
podium monitor, judge's monitor, jury monitors,
and on plasma
screens located behind the witness stand and on the side wall.
Notes can then be made directly on the SmartBoard® projection system,
and viewed on all courtroom displays.
The SMART Board® projection system enables users
to save, print, and distribute all of the documents.
Technology-ready counsel tables provide quick-connect capability
for data, realtime transcription and video. Counsel can bring portable
computer equipment to plug into discreetly concealed
ports in floor boxes to access the electronics in
the courtroom. (See: eCourtroom
Instructions.) Traditional video and audio equipment such as cassette,
video, and DVD recorders and playback equipment with handheld RF remote
and laser pointer, and a digital visual presenter or
ELMO, are also available for counsel. The courtroom is enhanced by
fully integrated video and audio conferencing systems. The equipment can
be used for remote witness testimony, pretrial conferences or other court
proceedings. The use of this technology is easily controlled from multiple
touch panel controllers at the Judge’s bench and the lectern.
In addition to the large presentation screen, the courtroom's jury box
has been enhanced with eight flat panel monitors for the benefit of jurors.
The installed courtroom configuration permits laptop computer output to
be viewed on the projection system and jury monitors.
Both judge and court clerk have access to master
courtroom controls. The controllers enable the judge, counsel, or clerk
to route video and computer input and output as well as DVD, videotape
or cassette output, and visual presenter output (ELMO) to the SmartBoard®
projection system. The master controllers also govern the volume controls
and master mute switch for all room microphones and audio sources.
The court's proceedings are captured using
FTR Gold digital audio recording and/or by our
court reporters.
|
