Franklin
County Courthouse completed a multi-phase renovation
to their historic facilities in Chambersburg, PA.
They called upon the expertise of Martin Gruen to
design technology for the four refurbished
courtrooms. Gruen is Deputy Director for Courtroom
21 at Virginia's William and Mary Law School.
The County’s decision to use Martin Gruen's
thirty years of experience was fortified by the
mission of Courtroom 21, a state-of-the-art
educational courtroom designed to prepare students
for case presentation in a high-tech environment.
Like Courtroom 21, Franklin County sought to
present multiple remote witnesses, electronic
evidence presentations, and legal process
automation. Courtroom 21 increases community
accessibility with language interpretation and
assistant listening technologies. SAGE Technology
Solutions was chosen to implement these goals at the
Franklin County Courthouse. Once contracted, SAGE worked closely with Martin Gruen to configure and
optimize the project.
SAGE Delivers
The touch control panels manage the entire Audio/Visual System with
customized graphical user interface (GUI) screens. These
panels are designed to seamlessly integrate the A/V Systems into the normal flow of court proceedings with minimal interruption.
All controls are designed to appear on one
primary screen. When a video source is selected, controls for that source appear in the center window of this screen, allowing all functional controls to remain visible simultaneously. The
judge’s and clerk’s
panels are able to pre-select destinations for video
display, preview, and queue the video before sending images
out. Because the GUI screens were built with the operation of the court in mind, system
users were successfully exploring all components of the A/V System after only one training session.
GUI Screen Functions
These GUI Screens allow for custom, single-touch controls for
the Judges or the Court Clerk to:
-
Provide
the jury with required information, the gallery with
permitted information, and the legal teams with additional
corresponding sound and video through displays,
speakers and multi-zone sound delivery.
- Originate videoconferencing sessions for remote
witnesses and experts.
- Activate the Evidence Podium, Witness Stand, Council, and Jury Box LCD
screens for evidence display.
- Initiate annotation functions on the Evidence Podium and Witness Stand
touch screen LCD panels.
- Mute, with one button, all audio and video evidence
displays in emergencies.
- Provide sidebar-conversation sound-masking to the
gallery and the jury.
- Ensure complete accuracy for court reporters’ headsets,
even during private sidebar conversations.
- Control video playback of evidence and information from a variety of pre-recorded sources.
- Automate audio mixing for appropriate sound pressure
levels.
- Switch and control program audio for A/V sources including
video teleconferencing, DVD/VCR players, and auxiliary audio and microphone inputs.
- Power on and off all systems and audio/visual tools.
Cutting Edge Courtroom A/V Technology
Courtroom #4 at the Franklin County Courthouse possesses some of the most advanced presentation systems in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. These
devices are designed to enhance the evidence
presentation during court proceedings without hindering
their flow.
SAGE seeks to advance the area's technological
baseline, referring to its innovations as
"reaching the PlayStation™ Generation." Though typically used in reference to SAGE's educational clients, the ideal is also applied to court proceedings.
Today’s jury pool is made from people who grew up watching television and playing video games, able to better comprehend
visually-delivered evidence.
Evidence presentation is critical to court proceedings. It is imperative that
the jury members are able to examine electronic evidence as closely as possible. The LCD panels in the jury box are
specifically configured to allow for the best possible viewing. All electronic evidence displays are controlled entirely by the
judge. In turn, he can entrust A/V system control to the
court clerk, allowing
himself to devote his undivided attention to the proceedings.
Equipment Highlights
-
Crestron
touchscreen control with graphical user interface (GUI)
- Sidebar sound masking feature
- Eight LCD monitors in jury box and witness stand
plasma display
- Touchscreen annotation monitors at evidence podium
and witness stand
- Computer, document camera, DVD,
and VCR display capabilities
- Tandberg video/audio conferencing with echo cancellation
- Biamp DaVinci web-based audio control software
- Sennheiser ADA assisted listening systems
Solutions Provided by SAGE
At the commencement of the installation, Mr. Gruen commended the
SAGE team,
saying, “In my career designing courtrooms, I have worked with many systems integrators, some with hundreds of Federal Courthouses under their belts, that didn’t perform as well as your guys.”
The implementation of the Tandberg videoconferencing
system allows counsel to place remote witnesses on the stand, maintaining continuity, without the expense and inconvenience of bringing them to the courtroom. The
plasma screen strategically located above the witness chair
brings the
remote witness into the proceedings as though they were in the room.
The Sennheiser assisted listening system allows for ADA compliance and makes the proceedings accessible to hearing-impaired participants. The system is
infrared, confining the audio signal to the room where it originates. This maintains the
proceedings' confidentiality by preventing the signal from penetrating the walls of the courtroom. |