|
Porter County 'court TV' saving time,
money
PORTER COUNTY: Judges use video
technology to arraign, sentence miles-away jail
defendants.
BY JERRY DAVICH This story ran on nwitimes.com on
Tuesday, June 27, 2006 1:05 AM CDT
VALPARAISO I Porter County Superior Court Judge David
Chidester raised his right hand, looked into the
Television screen inside the downtown courthouse and
faced the defendant. He asked, "How do you wish to
plead, guilty or not guilty?" Anthony Ashby raised his
right hand, looked back through another television from
inside the Porter County Jail, and answered the judge.
"Guilty, your honor. I was impaired. I drank vodka the
night before," said Ashby, arrested May 12 in Kouts on
charges of drinking and driving. "I want to get this
over with. I want to deal with it." Chidester sat
inside a tiny conference room on the courthouse's third
floor, next to deputy prosecutor Melanie Eggers, and
court reporter Becky Stowers. Ashby, sporting an orange
jumpsuit, sat in front of a handful of other inmates
inside the county jail, located several miles away.
Unlike many Indiana counties, including Lake County,
Porter County has for years been conducting court
hearings, arraignments and even on-the-spot sentencing
using video and audio feeds between the courthouse and
jail. It has proven to be especially economical with
the high price of gas, judges say. Almost daily, judges
in the county division courts can handle routine
misdemeanor charges, extradition hearings or probation
violations through the video system, while more serious
felony charges are handled in person. On this day,
Chidester faced eight defendants, each in custody on
various charges, from failure to appear, to check
forgery. Chidester was direct, yet polite. The
defendants were curt and somber. The entire process
lasted less than a half hour. "You could have killed
someone that day," Chidester told Ashby, who was charged
with similar offenses in 1995, 1994 and 1993.
"I'm definitely not gonna drink no more," Ashby replied
through the television. Chidester then sentenced Ashby
to one year in jail, with all but 90 days suspended,
suspension of his driver's license for six months,
probation for one year, mandatory alcohol treatment
meetings twice a week, and payment of $456 for court and
probation fees. Judges say that Mondays are the busiest
days for video arraignments, following typically
"eventful" weekends, and the days after holidays are
even busier. Soon, every courtroom in the downtown
courthouse will be equipped with such video technology,
so judges won't have to squeeze into the tiny
third-floor conference room. Instead, they will be able
to conduct business directly from their benches, said
Chidester, who also regularly travels to the county jail
to conduct court hearings. |
