Greetings,
Welcome to "The Visual Trial." This website is about modern advocacy.
This site is designed to be informative and helpful to practicing
attorneys from all walks of life.
This site is also designed to act as a preview to any law students
contemplating taking my course at the University of Detroit Mercy
School of Law or at the Thomas M. Cooley School of Law.
Keeping your jury’s attention over the long course of a trial can be a
challenge. Using existing courtroom technology to help present your
case allows you to introduce material in a manner most consistent with
your juror’s daily experiences. For most jurors,a typical day involves at
least one of following: television, a computer, the Internet.
In his book, “Litigation Technology-Becoming a High-Tech Trial
Lawyer”, Mike Rogers discussed the phenomenon of how television has
shaped us:
Now consider how the majority of Americans receive their information,
news, and entertainment: from televisions and computers. Both present
information on a screen. Each medium, through a remote control or a
mouse click, lets the viewer jump to other information. Think about
television: It offers sound, images, and differing vantage points every
few moments. Television is the perfect selling tool. Consider how
television as a presentation medium has evolved. If you grew up
watching the I Love Lucy show, you were exposed to three-camera
filming. Three movie cameras were positioned around the stage and
captured the action from three different vantage points. One camera
zoomed in on headshots. Another camera shot the entire stage, and
the third camera focused on a particular actor or specific part of the set.
During the editing process, the director decided which of the three
different camera shots to splice together. That splicing process
controlled the vantage point of the television audience. The director,
then, controlled the television’s point of view. In the I Love Lucy show,
the image on the screen stayed on the screen for approximately 15
seconds, when the next bit of spliced film appeared. Viewers nowadays
take the shift in focus for granted, but for the television audience in the
1950’s, that extent of vantage point manipulation was completely new.
Before I Love Lucy, the television camera functioned as nothing more
than a member of the audience. Three-camera filming revolutionized its
role. Now it became a tool of-and affected by-the whims of the
presenter. The audience could now be forced to view the story from
whichever vantage point the director chose.
This e-mail from a juror on a past trial says it all:
The goal of any form of courtroom technology is the same goal of any
litigator that used demonstrative evidence 100 years ago: To present
information to the viewer in a friendly, persuasive manner in which the
viewer retains the information.
The challenge is how to blend this modern evidence with traditional and
effective advocacy? Therein lies a visual trial. The concept of modern,
litigation advocacy.
Please enjoy the site. I hope to add more to it as often as possible. I
have posted several "how-to" guides on the website. They are available
to all. It furthers justice for all to have access to the modern digital
evidence of the 21st Century.
I would like to take a moment to talk about why I include the Muhammad
Ali quote on this website.
The sister of a murdered police officer sent me this quote (in a Thank
You card) about a year after I successfully prosecuted the four
defendants charged in her brother's murder. It came at a time in my life
when I was involved in another very serious murder case and had a
newborn baby at home. The card provided me a needed lift when it
seemed there just wasn't enough time in the day to get it all done. I
thank her for sending me that card and reminding me just what it takes
to see justice all the way through. The quote is worth repeating.
Learning how to use litigation technology properly takes time. To do it
right you cannot just rely on an assistant or paralegal. You must learn
enough of the skills involved to truly understand how it can affect your
advocacy, why you will use it and when you will use it.
Preparation is hard work, time consuming and sometimes monotonous.
Preparing a case file with litigation technology is extra work. Are you
willing to settle for less? Should the community we serve settle for less?
Welcome to "The Visual Trial." This website is about modern advocacy.
This site is designed to be informative and helpful to practicing
attorneys from all walks of life.
This site is also designed to act as a preview to any law students
contemplating taking my course at the University of Detroit Mercy
School of Law or at the Thomas M. Cooley School of Law.
Keeping your jury’s attention over the long course of a trial can be a
challenge. Using existing courtroom technology to help present your
case allows you to introduce material in a manner most consistent with
your juror’s daily experiences. For most jurors,a typical day involves at
least one of following: television, a computer, the Internet.
In his book, “Litigation Technology-Becoming a High-Tech Trial
Lawyer”, Mike Rogers discussed the phenomenon of how television has
shaped us:
Now consider how the majority of Americans receive their information,
news, and entertainment: from televisions and computers. Both present
information on a screen. Each medium, through a remote control or a
mouse click, lets the viewer jump to other information. Think about
television: It offers sound, images, and differing vantage points every
few moments. Television is the perfect selling tool. Consider how
television as a presentation medium has evolved. If you grew up
watching the I Love Lucy show, you were exposed to three-camera
filming. Three movie cameras were positioned around the stage and
captured the action from three different vantage points. One camera
zoomed in on headshots. Another camera shot the entire stage, and
the third camera focused on a particular actor or specific part of the set.
During the editing process, the director decided which of the three
different camera shots to splice together. That splicing process
controlled the vantage point of the television audience. The director,
then, controlled the television’s point of view. In the I Love Lucy show,
the image on the screen stayed on the screen for approximately 15
seconds, when the next bit of spliced film appeared. Viewers nowadays
take the shift in focus for granted, but for the television audience in the
1950’s, that extent of vantage point manipulation was completely new.
Before I Love Lucy, the television camera functioned as nothing more
than a member of the audience. Three-camera filming revolutionized its
role. Now it became a tool of-and affected by-the whims of the
presenter. The audience could now be forced to view the story from
whichever vantage point the director chose.
This e-mail from a juror on a past trial says it all:
The goal of any form of courtroom technology is the same goal of any
litigator that used demonstrative evidence 100 years ago: To present
information to the viewer in a friendly, persuasive manner in which the
viewer retains the information.
The challenge is how to blend this modern evidence with traditional and
effective advocacy? Therein lies a visual trial. The concept of modern,
litigation advocacy.
Please enjoy the site. I hope to add more to it as often as possible. I
have posted several "how-to" guides on the website. They are available
to all. It furthers justice for all to have access to the modern digital
evidence of the 21st Century.
I would like to take a moment to talk about why I include the Muhammad
Ali quote on this website.
The sister of a murdered police officer sent me this quote (in a Thank
You card) about a year after I successfully prosecuted the four
defendants charged in her brother's murder. It came at a time in my life
when I was involved in another very serious murder case and had a
newborn baby at home. The card provided me a needed lift when it
seemed there just wasn't enough time in the day to get it all done. I
thank her for sending me that card and reminding me just what it takes
to see justice all the way through. The quote is worth repeating.
Learning how to use litigation technology properly takes time. To do it
right you cannot just rely on an assistant or paralegal. You must learn
enough of the skills involved to truly understand how it can affect your
advocacy, why you will use it and when you will use it.
Preparation is hard work, time consuming and sometimes monotonous.
Preparing a case file with litigation technology is extra work. Are you
willing to settle for less? Should the community we serve settle for less?
The Visual Trial
"The fight is won
or lost far away
from the witnesses,
behind the lines, in
the gym, and out
there on the road;
long before I dance
under those lights."
-Muhammad Ali
or lost far away
from the witnesses,
behind the lines, in
the gym, and out
there on the road;
long before I dance
under those lights."
-Muhammad Ali
"The fight is won
or lost far away
from the witnesses,
behind the lines, in
the gym, and out
there on the road;
long before I dance
under those lights."
-Muhammad Ali
or lost far away
from the witnesses,
behind the lines, in
the gym, and out
there on the road;
long before I dance
under those lights."
-Muhammad Ali
The Visual Trial version 2010
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| Michigan Lawyers Weekly February 11, 2008 Visualizing guilt Homicide prosecutor turned technology whiz uses litigation support software to persuade jurors and take down the bad guys |
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| MOTION MAGAZINE! Fall 2008 Technology at Trial Wayne County whizzes take courtroom technology way beyond PowerPoint By Taryn Hartman and Maria Dell I’Sola |
| The postings on this site are my own and do not necessarily represent the WCPO's positions, strategies, or opinions |
| TrialFusion is a product that a friend of mine designed. Check it out. It is designed for criminal trials. TrialFusion brings the power and accuracy of barcode technology into your trial. You'll no longer need an IT degree and hours of prep time to get your photos ready- it's the fastest and easiest way to organize those exhibits. This technology was developed for trial professionals by trial professionals who know how trials really work. Fast paced and last minute changes are the norm and TrialFusion handles them all! . http://simpletrialtech.com/ software/trialfusion |
APA Patrick Muscat
Wayne County
Prosecutor's Office
313-224-5777
Wayne County
Prosecutor's Office
313-224-5777