WASHINGTON, OREGON, IDAHO & MAYBE MONTANA COMBINED COURT REPORTER CONVENTION
Seattle, WA. This information was relayed to the Beagle that a possible four-state court reporter association combined convention is being planned for Hood River, Oregon, which is situated along the Columbia River.
Word has it that the dates are October 2, 3 and 4, which by my calendar is the first Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the month. I've been to Hood River over the years and I know that the weather should be stunning and as I recall that time of the year the local apple harvest should be fully underway.
Keep looking here for more information regarding this event.
~ The Beagle
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Seattle Washington Court Reporter
Roger G. Flygare & Associates, Inc., Professional Court Reporters, Legal Video and Transcriptionists.
Federal Way, WA ~ November 28, 2008. Roger Flygare states that court reporting requests have increased over the past year and expects that to be a continuing trend. He also stated that the use of video conferencing has also increased due largely to the increased costs of travel.
Courthouses in Washington, especially the lower courts and family courts, have turned to using audio recording and to a limited amount in superior courts of Washington. Mr. Flygare said in his experience thus far that the quality isn't all that great and that there are a lot of inaudibles or undeciferables because of poor microphone reception. He noted that some states have jettisoned that practice and have started hiring more certified court reporters.
He relayed a story concerning a video trial in which a long-time client of his turned to Flygare & Associates for advice. Mr. Flygare informed the lawyer that the particular courtroom the trial was going to held in was a videotaped courtroom and that if the lawyer felt that this case may go up to the Court of Appeals that he should consider hiring one of their real-time reporters, which they ultimately followed his advice and hired a real-time reporter for the duration of the trial.
It turned out to be a very wise choice in that the audio portion of the videotaped trial failed for a number of days before it was discovered that a microphone wasn't working properly and ultimately they had to turn to the court reporter to provide a complete record in which to appeal to a higher court.
In the Beagle's blog, you can see there are a number of such failures in courthouses across the country and I think it would be an intelligent and informed idea to consult with a local court reporting agency if you have an important trial coming up down the road.
It's the Beagle's thought, though, that all trials are important...sort of a "caveat emptor" for the trial lawyer.
May the gavel fall your direction ~ The Beagle
Federal Way, WA ~ November 28, 2008. Roger Flygare states that court reporting requests have increased over the past year and expects that to be a continuing trend. He also stated that the use of video conferencing has also increased due largely to the increased costs of travel.
Courthouses in Washington, especially the lower courts and family courts, have turned to using audio recording and to a limited amount in superior courts of Washington. Mr. Flygare said in his experience thus far that the quality isn't all that great and that there are a lot of inaudibles or undeciferables because of poor microphone reception. He noted that some states have jettisoned that practice and have started hiring more certified court reporters.
He relayed a story concerning a video trial in which a long-time client of his turned to Flygare & Associates for advice. Mr. Flygare informed the lawyer that the particular courtroom the trial was going to held in was a videotaped courtroom and that if the lawyer felt that this case may go up to the Court of Appeals that he should consider hiring one of their real-time reporters, which they ultimately followed his advice and hired a real-time reporter for the duration of the trial.
It turned out to be a very wise choice in that the audio portion of the videotaped trial failed for a number of days before it was discovered that a microphone wasn't working properly and ultimately they had to turn to the court reporter to provide a complete record in which to appeal to a higher court.
In the Beagle's blog, you can see there are a number of such failures in courthouses across the country and I think it would be an intelligent and informed idea to consult with a local court reporting agency if you have an important trial coming up down the road.
It's the Beagle's thought, though, that all trials are important...sort of a "caveat emptor" for the trial lawyer.
May the gavel fall your direction ~ The Beagle
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Longtime court reporter of the Illinois Judicial System Past Away
Longtime court employee dies at 87
MUSKEGON -- A longtime Muskegon County 60th District Court recorder and judicial secretary has died.
Mona-Eileen Byrnes died Monday at age 87.
Byrnes had a long history with local courts. She was employed as the registrar of Muskegon County Juvenile Court and later worked in several law offices and in various capacities for district court, including court reporter and judicial secretary from 1969 until her retirement in 1983.
She was a graduate of Muskegon High School and later enlisted in the USN WAVES, a World War II-era division of the U.S. Navy that consisted entirely of women.
She attended boot camp at Hunter's College in New York, graduated from Chicago School of Aviation Instruments and was stationed at Alameda Naval Air Station in California.
In addition to her court experience, Byrnes owned and operated a transcription service, Gal Friday, for 54 years out of her home. She was also a two-term president for Catholic War Vets Post 843 Auxiliary.
She is survived by five children and her husband of 62 years, Thomas J. Byrnes, Sr.
A funeral service took place on Friday in Oviedo, Fla., where she lived at the time of her death.
MUSKEGON -- A longtime Muskegon County 60th District Court recorder and judicial secretary has died.
Mona-Eileen Byrnes died Monday at age 87.
Byrnes had a long history with local courts. She was employed as the registrar of Muskegon County Juvenile Court and later worked in several law offices and in various capacities for district court, including court reporter and judicial secretary from 1969 until her retirement in 1983.
She was a graduate of Muskegon High School and later enlisted in the USN WAVES, a World War II-era division of the U.S. Navy that consisted entirely of women.
She attended boot camp at Hunter's College in New York, graduated from Chicago School of Aviation Instruments and was stationed at Alameda Naval Air Station in California.
In addition to her court experience, Byrnes owned and operated a transcription service, Gal Friday, for 54 years out of her home. She was also a two-term president for Catholic War Vets Post 843 Auxiliary.
She is survived by five children and her husband of 62 years, Thomas J. Byrnes, Sr.
A funeral service took place on Friday in Oviedo, Fla., where she lived at the time of her death.
Colorado Court Reporter School Now Open
Colorado Tech To Offer Court Reporter Degree
People worried about their jobs in this tight economy may want to bring their resumes to the judge's chambers. Courtrooms across country are scrambling to fill openings as court reporters.
Colorado Technical University will soon offer classes to those interested in the field. Court reporters have a front row seat to the legal system. They put every word spoken in court onto the printed page as part of the official transcript. It's a demanding job that's in more demand than ever before.
"They're taking several hundred words a minute and they have to take it 100-percent accurately and obviously they have to be totally focused on what is at hand," Chief Justice of the South Dakota Supreme Court David Gilbertson said.Many schools quit teaching court reporting thinking technology would eventually replace the position.
But recording legal proceedings electronically runs the risk of technical glitches, so the human touch will always be needed. "I would compare it to an auto mechanic. Fifty years ago, auto mechanics fixed your car, even though technology changed the way cars are repaired.
Today, you still need that auto mechanic, you can't have a machine fix your car," Gilbertson said.
Court reporters can earn $35,000 a year just starting out. Plus, thousands more in transcript fees. But job security might be the biggest perk of all.
"Right now, we have economic problems, but there's no court reporters being laid off. They're still getting paid," Gilbertson said.Until now, the closest schools offering court reporting classes is in Anoka, Minnesota and Green River Community College in Auburn, Washington with classes beginning January 2009. Colorado Tech in Sioux Falls begins its classes in January 2009 for two- and four-year degrees.
People worried about their jobs in this tight economy may want to bring their resumes to the judge's chambers. Courtrooms across country are scrambling to fill openings as court reporters.
Colorado Technical University will soon offer classes to those interested in the field. Court reporters have a front row seat to the legal system. They put every word spoken in court onto the printed page as part of the official transcript. It's a demanding job that's in more demand than ever before.
"They're taking several hundred words a minute and they have to take it 100-percent accurately and obviously they have to be totally focused on what is at hand," Chief Justice of the South Dakota Supreme Court David Gilbertson said.Many schools quit teaching court reporting thinking technology would eventually replace the position.
But recording legal proceedings electronically runs the risk of technical glitches, so the human touch will always be needed. "I would compare it to an auto mechanic. Fifty years ago, auto mechanics fixed your car, even though technology changed the way cars are repaired.
Today, you still need that auto mechanic, you can't have a machine fix your car," Gilbertson said.
Court reporters can earn $35,000 a year just starting out. Plus, thousands more in transcript fees. But job security might be the biggest perk of all.
"Right now, we have economic problems, but there's no court reporters being laid off. They're still getting paid," Gilbertson said.Until now, the closest schools offering court reporting classes is in Anoka, Minnesota and Green River Community College in Auburn, Washington with classes beginning January 2009. Colorado Tech in Sioux Falls begins its classes in January 2009 for two- and four-year degrees.
COURT REPORTERS FEES ADDED ON IN COST RECOVERY FOR EXPENSIVE TRIALS
PROSECUTORS ARE BECOMING COLLECTION AGENTS IN RETRIEVING THE COSTS FOR TRIALS...
THE BEAGLE HAS LEARNED THROUGH BLOGS ON THE INTERNET THAT it appears that financially strapped prosecutors are approaching judges with a novel concept whereby they are ordering defendants to pay for excessive investigative and prosecutorial costs.
That's what Wayne County Prosecutor Kim Worthy did during the recent sentencing hearing of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, jailed for 120 days as well as ordered to pay a cool $1,000,000 in restitution in his conviction of obstruction of justice.
Evidently, Kilpatrick had lied about an affair, which was later revealed in text messages, during a whistleblower trial that cost the city $8.4 million.
During the sentencing phase of the trial, Prosecutor Worthy asked the judge to order Kilpatrick to pay another $22,186 to cover services that were unique to his case: digital evidence consultants with text-messaging expertise, extra court reporters, transcript costs and new locks on doors to secure certain offices.
"These things were completely unique to the Kilpatrick case," said Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Maria Miller. "We're facing very tough economic times ... and, where the law allows us to ask for reimbursement, we will."
The judge in the trial, however, denied the request noting that he had never before in his career had a prosecutor make such a request.
A TREND IN RECOUPING 'UNUSUAL' COSTS
It seems as though prosecutors in Ohio, California and Rhode Island have made similar requests. And they should continue to do so, said Tom Sneddon, interim executive director of the National District Attorneys Association and the former district attorney in Santa Barbara County, Calif. "Where there is an opportunity and there is an unusual case, if you can recoup costs, then you should," said Sneddon, who himself has secured reimbursement from defendants in cases involving embezzlement and catastrophic grass fires.
In the grand scheme of costs related to prosecution, the prosecutors' investigative costs are different from the court costs that are levied in most criminal cases, such as processing fees, filing fees, attorney fee reimbursement for defense counsel and mandatory crime-victim fees, which are ordered where there is a conviction. NDAA Director Sneddon explained that defendants can be ordered to reimburse the government for investigative costs as part of a plea agreement or as a condition of probation.
He said that cases involving consumer protection, the environment or major embezzlement typically are where prosecutors might seek reimbursement for extraordinary expenses, like audit services or digital evidence analysis.
"This clearly -- let's say within the last five to seven years -- has become used more often than before," Sneddon said.
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers spokesperson, Jack King doubts there will be much luck in recouping costs from defendants, no matter how hard-pressed financially they may have become. "I understand that argument -- all government agencies face some belt-tightening," King said. "But the remedy of making the defendant pay for his own investigation and prosecution has been held a nonstarter. It's been tried before in the federal courts and shot down by several courts of appeal."
It happened earlier in Ohio this year: Prosecutors tried to recoup costs in a public corruption case, but an appeals court ruled against them in May. The case involved a former state representative who entered a no-contest plea to failing to disclose the source of a gift in excess of $75. A municipal court judge ordered her to pay $2,025 in costs associated with prosecuting the case, but the appeals court reversed the ruling, holding that "ordering a defendant to pay the costs of the prosecuting attorney is a novel concept in Ohio." Ohio v. Perez, No. 2008-Ohio-2308.
Not only novel, but troubling, said attorney Barry E. Savage, who represented the defendant in the Ohio case. He doesn't believe that defendants should have to pay for a prosecutor's investigative bill.
"The first time I heard about it I said, 'Where did they come up with this? This is not part of the agreement,' " Savage said. He argued that prosecutors recouping costs for handling a case is not allowed by statute. "A defendant has got to be protected from judges and prosecutors ordering them to pay for things that they are not obligated to pay. It's that simple."
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals made a similar ruling in 2006, when it ruled in favor of a former mayor of Providence, R.I., who was convicted of perjury and criminal contempt and had been ordered to pay $152,000 for the costs of the investigation of his crimes. U.S. v. Bevilacqua, No. 05-2390 (1st Cir.).
THE BEAGLE HAS LEARNED THROUGH BLOGS ON THE INTERNET THAT it appears that financially strapped prosecutors are approaching judges with a novel concept whereby they are ordering defendants to pay for excessive investigative and prosecutorial costs.
That's what Wayne County Prosecutor Kim Worthy did during the recent sentencing hearing of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, jailed for 120 days as well as ordered to pay a cool $1,000,000 in restitution in his conviction of obstruction of justice.
Evidently, Kilpatrick had lied about an affair, which was later revealed in text messages, during a whistleblower trial that cost the city $8.4 million.
During the sentencing phase of the trial, Prosecutor Worthy asked the judge to order Kilpatrick to pay another $22,186 to cover services that were unique to his case: digital evidence consultants with text-messaging expertise, extra court reporters, transcript costs and new locks on doors to secure certain offices.
"These things were completely unique to the Kilpatrick case," said Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Maria Miller. "We're facing very tough economic times ... and, where the law allows us to ask for reimbursement, we will."
The judge in the trial, however, denied the request noting that he had never before in his career had a prosecutor make such a request.
A TREND IN RECOUPING 'UNUSUAL' COSTS
It seems as though prosecutors in Ohio, California and Rhode Island have made similar requests. And they should continue to do so, said Tom Sneddon, interim executive director of the National District Attorneys Association and the former district attorney in Santa Barbara County, Calif. "Where there is an opportunity and there is an unusual case, if you can recoup costs, then you should," said Sneddon, who himself has secured reimbursement from defendants in cases involving embezzlement and catastrophic grass fires.
In the grand scheme of costs related to prosecution, the prosecutors' investigative costs are different from the court costs that are levied in most criminal cases, such as processing fees, filing fees, attorney fee reimbursement for defense counsel and mandatory crime-victim fees, which are ordered where there is a conviction. NDAA Director Sneddon explained that defendants can be ordered to reimburse the government for investigative costs as part of a plea agreement or as a condition of probation.
He said that cases involving consumer protection, the environment or major embezzlement typically are where prosecutors might seek reimbursement for extraordinary expenses, like audit services or digital evidence analysis.
"This clearly -- let's say within the last five to seven years -- has become used more often than before," Sneddon said.
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers spokesperson, Jack King doubts there will be much luck in recouping costs from defendants, no matter how hard-pressed financially they may have become. "I understand that argument -- all government agencies face some belt-tightening," King said. "But the remedy of making the defendant pay for his own investigation and prosecution has been held a nonstarter. It's been tried before in the federal courts and shot down by several courts of appeal."
It happened earlier in Ohio this year: Prosecutors tried to recoup costs in a public corruption case, but an appeals court ruled against them in May. The case involved a former state representative who entered a no-contest plea to failing to disclose the source of a gift in excess of $75. A municipal court judge ordered her to pay $2,025 in costs associated with prosecuting the case, but the appeals court reversed the ruling, holding that "ordering a defendant to pay the costs of the prosecuting attorney is a novel concept in Ohio." Ohio v. Perez, No. 2008-Ohio-2308.
Not only novel, but troubling, said attorney Barry E. Savage, who represented the defendant in the Ohio case. He doesn't believe that defendants should have to pay for a prosecutor's investigative bill.
"The first time I heard about it I said, 'Where did they come up with this? This is not part of the agreement,' " Savage said. He argued that prosecutors recouping costs for handling a case is not allowed by statute. "A defendant has got to be protected from judges and prosecutors ordering them to pay for things that they are not obligated to pay. It's that simple."
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals made a similar ruling in 2006, when it ruled in favor of a former mayor of Providence, R.I., who was convicted of perjury and criminal contempt and had been ordered to pay $152,000 for the costs of the investigation of his crimes. U.S. v. Bevilacqua, No. 05-2390 (1st Cir.).
Saturday, November 8, 2008
National Campaigns For the President of the United States - from a Beagle's view
The campaigns have closed. It is evident from speaking with my Republican (GOP) friends that they felt short changed in the outcome of their candidate. The Democrats are a bit more elated.
Senator McCain certainly would have done himself a lot more good in the eyes of the block of voters who make up the very large sector of people who are neither far right or far left, those folks who are usually called liberal conservatives if they are Republicans and conservative liberals if they are Democrats, if he would have selected a different candidate for his VP nomination. Not that Governor Palin isn't a decent person, please don't think the Beagle thinks otherwise. No, it's just that if he would have selected Mit Romney, a candidate for the nomination of president GOP or Kathleen Sebelius, Governor of the Great State of Kansas, I think he would have had a better opportunity to draw from that portion of the Republicans that more than likely voted Democratic.
I think I can safely say we the voters would have had a much better choice and would have seen a higher profile in the campaign. I was very disappointed to see all the chatter about clothing, shoes, someone's receipt for lunch, someone's fabricated story about anything regarding either candidate.
The voting public deserve better than that. They are the people who diligently pay their hard earned money into the tax base to support all the programs that the federal government provides. It isn't about the one percenters, those folks who are lucky enough to earn more than $250,000 a year. It's about the one's who pay nearly 30 percent in taxes or more. Have children in school, K1 through those formative years in college (where the buck really hits home).
Those people need better choices. Those people need our leaders to make better choices. Our country needs better options to select from. Our country needs to rid itself of the shackles of dissention amongst ourselves.
We simply need to be united so that we as fellow countrymen can put our country back on track and ready for the future.
For all of those who participated by voting in this election, thank you for making the choices you did. For those whose candidate didn't succeed, don't give up. For those whose candidate did succeed, congratulations.
Now comes the hard work ~
Senator McCain certainly would have done himself a lot more good in the eyes of the block of voters who make up the very large sector of people who are neither far right or far left, those folks who are usually called liberal conservatives if they are Republicans and conservative liberals if they are Democrats, if he would have selected a different candidate for his VP nomination. Not that Governor Palin isn't a decent person, please don't think the Beagle thinks otherwise. No, it's just that if he would have selected Mit Romney, a candidate for the nomination of president GOP or Kathleen Sebelius, Governor of the Great State of Kansas, I think he would have had a better opportunity to draw from that portion of the Republicans that more than likely voted Democratic.
I think I can safely say we the voters would have had a much better choice and would have seen a higher profile in the campaign. I was very disappointed to see all the chatter about clothing, shoes, someone's receipt for lunch, someone's fabricated story about anything regarding either candidate.
The voting public deserve better than that. They are the people who diligently pay their hard earned money into the tax base to support all the programs that the federal government provides. It isn't about the one percenters, those folks who are lucky enough to earn more than $250,000 a year. It's about the one's who pay nearly 30 percent in taxes or more. Have children in school, K1 through those formative years in college (where the buck really hits home).
Those people need better choices. Those people need our leaders to make better choices. Our country needs better options to select from. Our country needs to rid itself of the shackles of dissention amongst ourselves.
We simply need to be united so that we as fellow countrymen can put our country back on track and ready for the future.
For all of those who participated by voting in this election, thank you for making the choices you did. For those whose candidate didn't succeed, don't give up. For those whose candidate did succeed, congratulations.
Now comes the hard work ~
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Court Reporter Washington State
Court Reporter in Washington State provides more than court reporting ~
When it comes to having the best technology for your video conferencing, then you don’t have to look any further than Roger G. Flygare & Associates, Inc.
As leading Washington State court reporters, they’ve been servicing the Seattle and Tacoma region for nearly 30 years.
With their Flygare Electronic Transcripts and Video Conference Room, they offer every service you’ll need from your court reporter and they have the experience and can additionally provide you with RealLegal compatibility. They can also provide you with legal videography services, legal transcription services, process service, and notary public service.
Check out all of their services on their website, give them a call, and I’m sure you’ll have found the only court reporters you’ll ever use again.
When it comes to having the best technology for your video conferencing, then you don’t have to look any further than Roger G. Flygare & Associates, Inc.
As leading Washington State court reporters, they’ve been servicing the Seattle and Tacoma region for nearly 30 years.
With their Flygare Electronic Transcripts and Video Conference Room, they offer every service you’ll need from your court reporter and they have the experience and can additionally provide you with RealLegal compatibility. They can also provide you with legal videography services, legal transcription services, process service, and notary public service.
Check out all of their services on their website, give them a call, and I’m sure you’ll have found the only court reporters you’ll ever use again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
