Courtroom Technology

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois has installed electronic evidence presentation systems in all of the East St. Louis and Benton courtrooms.

Download Courtroom Technology Tips for the Southern District of Illinois.

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Computer Inputs

Laptop video and audio connections are available for presenting evidence from either counsel table or the presentation cart making it possible for attorneys to present both audio and video presentation as evidence. 26-point font size is recommended for presentation from a laptop computer.

The Court strongly recommends testing laptop systems in the courtroom before use in open court. This is especially true if planning to use a laptop to play sound, or the VCR to view a VHS tape. Past experiences have proven that different media recordings produce different results. Under these circumstances it may be necessary to make certain changes to accommodate specific media.

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Document Camera

A document camera enables counsel to present electronic evidence with video monitors and/or a projection screen. Evidence in the form of documents, pictures, photo negatives, x-rays, and 3D objects are all viewable.

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IP Based Video Conferencing

IP based video conferencing is available for use in all of the district court courtrooms at the discretion of the presiding judge. IP based video conferencing offers better technology, enhanced security, increased flexibility, and almost instant access via the Internet. The unit is portable and it integrates into all existing courtroom audio and video systems.

Test Conference Room

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Video Monitors

Video monitors are located at the judge's bench, the courtroom clerk's station, the witness box, counsel tables, and the lectern. The witness and lectern monitors are equipped with touchscreen technology which provides for an annotation tool. The annotation tool will allow court users to draw or mark on the screen with a stylus or finger without altering the original document itself.

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Video Cassette Recorder (VCR)

The VCR allows playback of evidence through the video distribution and display system. It contains a search feature that allows the operator to slowly advance an image. The annotation tool provides the witness and the attorneys with the opportunity to annotate over the taped images using the touchscreen monitors.

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