Court Reporter - Sad Sad Story

Man accused of aggravated sexual assault of a childUpdated: 5/27/2008 9:17 PMBy: News 8 Austin Staff

Billy Dan Carroll is being held on a $2 million bond.

Billy Dan Carroll, 53, is being held on a $2 million bond in connection with the aggravated sexual assault of a child.

Police said they were called to his house in northwest Austin on Sunday, May 18.
An 8-year-old girl told police that Carroll sexually assaulted her at his home while she was spending the night at his house.
Carroll was arrested and charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child which is a first degree felony.

Billy CarrollNews 8's Reagan Hackleman shares more information about the case. 'Worst case'One Austin police officer says the child abuse case is the worst he's seen in 22 years.
Police said he met the 8-year-old girl through his volunteer work with at-risk children at Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA).

A CASA representative said the organization went through the same background checks and screening procedures with Carroll as with all volunteers and until news of his arrest had "no cause for concern."

One Austin police officer said the child abuse case against the local businessman is the worst he's seen in 22 years. "The graphic depictions that I've seen through the video and different children, um, I've not seen anything like that,” Austin Police Sgt. Brian Loyd said. “This is going to be one for the books for us."

Police said they believe there are additional victims and they need the public's help to locate them. Police said they believe there are five other children and two adults involved in this abuse case.

Police said six of Carroll's victims range in age from 3-15 years of age.

Carroll is a co-founder of Fredericks-Carroll Reporting and Litigation Services, Inc., a court reporting and litigation support firm in Austin.

Company co-founder, Bill Fredericks released the following statement:
"It goes without saying that those of us at Fredericks-Carroll are shocked and saddened by the news. Our company was certainly not aware of any of the allegations underlying Mr. Carroll's arrest and we condemn any criminal behavior that may have occurred, particularly in light of the fact that the allegation involves a child."

Police said the bond is set much higher than most cases of the same nature as Carroll is an affluent man and could potentially try to leave the country.

If convicted, he could face 5-99 years in prison.

Anyone with information should call the child abuse unit at (512) 974-6880.

"Big Brother" in courtroom

Sure enough, if it can happen it most probably will. Here is a fine example of it has. Another reason that these recording systems violate a lot of civil rights besides being an inferior system.

~ The Beagle


"Big Brother" in courtroom
« on: Today at 03:56:12 AM »
QUEENSLAND police are trying to access recordings of private courtroom conversations between lawyers and their clients to gather additional evidence.Shocked lawyers say the bid, which takes advantage of a new constantly active digital court reporting system, raises serious privacy and confidentiality issues.The Courier-Mail has discovered that police have already been provided with one so-called "passive recording" of a private conversation in a Magistrate's Court last year.According to the Justice Department, another police request is under consideration and relates to a conversation during an adjournment that contained an alleged threat.Attorney-General Kerry Shine immediately ordered a review of the issue, while Queensland Law Society president Megan Mahon said the society, on the face of information available, was "very concerned".Quoted From -http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23779630-3102,00.html

A Court Reporter And Their Brains!

A Court Reporter Has Brains And Much, Much More!

As a practicing court reporter once told me, there is nothing on the planet like the highly skilled court reporter. In the great country of China, court reporters can go on to become judges in their judicial system. Many other countries acknowledge the prowness and mental agility of their court reporters by allowing them to participate in many different venues. What is the good ole USA doing to these very important people that make up our judicial system, fire them and replace them with a worthless technology that produces a far inferior record.

~ The Beagle

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

A Neuropsychologist’s deposition.

Q. Can you explain what you meant by that last statement?

A. May I give an example of this?

Q. Sure.

A. Okay. If you look -- And the example is this. Our brains are amiracle. Okay. They're a miracle that needs to be protected. And if you look at the court reporter right now, as an example, okay, this is a miracle in progress happening right before your eyes.
Let me just explain what she needs to do. I am speaking, so the information has to come in through her ear into her temporal lobe, and it has to go log itself into the language center. She has to be able to comprehend what I'm saying.

Then it has to get rerouted to the prefrontal cortex where it has to hold -- she has to be able to hold the information, because, you know, I continuously talk so she has to hold it. Right? Then she has to analyze it, integrate it and synthesize it.

Then it has to go back to the cerebellum and she has to be able to execute this, and she has to be able to then convert my words into those little squiggly marks. Have you ever seen court reporters have little squiggly language things?

So she has to convert it into a different language, and the white matter tracks allows her to reroute all of this information simultaneously without effort. Okay.

We take our brains for granted. She's sitting here. I'm probably talking too fast for her, but she's able to do this simultaneously. Seamlessly. Okay. No animal on the planet can do this. All right.

That's why I believe court reporters will never be replaced. Because no technical -- no technology could replace the beauty of that brain and the miracle of that brain. And that's why your brain should always be protected and you should take care of it.