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Show n fnj SACRAMENTO. CAIIF. lrom the bench, the judge's eyes scan a the courtroom. Arranged in a half circle around the central arena in front of him are all the crucial figures in the case. On the far right, the accused murderer sits with the defense attorney. At a separate table next to him is the prosecution lawyer. Then the 12 jurors side by side form the largest part of the half circle, continuing to the judge's left. Then the witness stand, on the far left, empty now, waiting for the trial to begin. The judge signals, and a remote-controllewaist-hig- h podium pops out of the floor. Evidence for the trial will be placed on the podium, where a hidden shots overhead camera flashes close-u- p table the on monitors television six to in front of the jurors, and to two monitors on either side of the courtroom, facipg the audience. Jurors sit with their backs to the spectators, to minimize distractions. JlljL WMI ll Where 4 were killed But in the state where four by Shirley Biondi d, X-r- ay metal detector A man in the second row of onlookers fidgets nervously with his briefcase. Like all members of the audience, he sits in a plastic chair, so his every move can be observed by the bailiff. But his movements don't worry metal detector the judge. An scanned every spectator for suspicious objects before he or she entered the courtroom. The defendant speaks only Spanish, but the jurors have their earpieces in place, to hear the simultaneous translation when the witness testifies. Television, radio and newspaper reporters will follow the trial behind one-wa- y glass in a soundproof viewing area a the rear of the courtroom. The judge signals again, and the trial see-throu- ay bdns. At law school Not at all. This experimental courtroom of the future will be ready by June at the University of the Pacific's McCeorge School of Law. "What we're doing here is legal surgery on the courtroom," says Cordon D. Schaber, dean of McCeorge, who spent four years as a Superior Court Judge in Sacramento. "One of the reason? for the backlog of court cases in the last 15 years is that we were operating with methods and machinery whieh were out of date. What we will have here at McCeorge is a laboratory to experiment with courtroom design, and with more efficient ways to present evidence to a judge and jury." .Nine years of planning and close to half a million dollars have gone into ttxft courtroom structure. Schaber sent 22 move closer to attorneys or witnesses to record testimony; and experimentation with the use of videotaped testimony from experts who cannot appear at the trial. Dean Cordon Schaber of the University of the Pacific McCeorge School of law in a mock-u- p model of the innovative courtroom designed for efficiency as well as security. an outline of the planned courtroom and questionnaires to 35,000 attorneys and judges throughout the country for their reactions and suggestions. "The response was gratifying," says Schaber. "One judge said he always felt like the voice in the wilderness sitting up there on the bench, so far apart from the proceedings " The new setup includes the judge in a circular seating arrangement, along with all the other participants in the trial. Research in 7 states Supplementing the questionnaires, Schaber's brother Cary, who is assistant administrative dean at the college, visited more than 100 courtrooms in seven states to research possible modifications of the original plan. 'The architect, Sooky Lee, and I walked into one courtroom where there was a woman judge," says Gary. 'The physical setup was the same as all the others, but for some reason the courtroom seemed more pleasant. "After a few minutes, Sooky pointed out the flowers on the court reporter's desk. This was the first time we'd seen any effort to humanize the courtroom in all that we'd visited. So our courtroom will have some indoor plants, spotlighted with special lamps which will also function as night lights." The innovative courtroom idea, with its many modifications, was then incormock-u- p e model porated into a with movable parts, funded by the Ford Foundation, and built by McCeorge students. Experienced jurors sat in on several dramatized trial situations, and their ideas were added to the design. "Many jurors complained about the 'judge' mumbling instructions to the jury," says Cordon Schaber. "To overcome this problem, our jurors will be able to see the instructions on the monitor at the same time they are being read by the judge." Other features include continuous videotape recording of courtroom proceedings, for possible playback during jury deliberations; a desk on wheels for the court reporter so he or she can life-siz- people, including Judge Harold J. Haley, were killed in August, 1970, at a Marin County courtroom during an escape attempt, security becomes just as important as efficiency and comfort. Gary Schaber visited Judge Haley's courtroom and claims he found "obvious security problems." There were too many doors leading to the hallway outside the courtroom, he says, which made quick entry and exit too easy. Security in the courtroom of the future is built in and unnoticeable. A technician in a locked, bulletproof room behind one-wa- y glass controls the single hall entrance and exit at the rear of the courtroom. The technician can lock or unlock any door in the courtroom, including the doors leading to the judge's chambers or the bailiff's room, for example, by remote control. Double doors at the courtroom entrance provide extra protection. If a person tries to carry a gun past the first door, the metal detector can spot it, and the second door immediately closes and locks automatically. An unruly defendant can be removed to an isolation room, where the proceedings can be viewed on a closed-circu- it monitor. And even an entire audience can be transferred to a public viewing room across the hall. 'Perry Mason' helps Cary and Cordon Schaber solicited $52,000 for the $500,000 project from the state-ru- n California Council on Criminal Justice, and the Fleischmann Foundation of Nevada added $50,000. But the largest single gift came from television's Burr, Raymond Perry Mason, who contributed $150,000 in art to be auctioned off for the school's benefit. Alumni and others with an interest in court reform are raising the rest of the money. "The old cliche that justice delayed is justice denied is very true," says Cordon Schaber. "And sometimes justice is delayed due to inefficiency in the present judicial setup. I don't see any violation of today's fair standards and fair procedure by bringing some efficiency into the act. "You can't replace fairness and justice with efficiency and economy. But you have to experiment to see if there's a better way to do things. And the person on trial is the one who receives the ultimate benefit." PARADE MARCH 11. 1973 |