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Article • January 15, 2014 • from PLN January, 2014
Washington Defendant Improperly Denied Transcript at State Expense by The Washington State Supreme Court held in a November 8, 2012 en banc ruling that an indigent defendant was improperly denied a jury voir dire transcript. When appealing his convictions for first-degree murder, second-degree murder and two counts of unlawful possession …
Article • February 15, 2012
California Supreme Court Clarifies Meaning of Public Interest Litigation by The California Supreme Court has held that the issues underlying a published appellate decision, viz., Serrano v. Stefan Merli Plastering Co., Inc. (2008) 162 Cal.App.4th 1014, qualify the case as public interest litigation, which may entitle the prevailing party to …
Article • March 15, 2011
$16,000 Settlement in Transcribing Contract Dispute by The District of Columbia (DC) paid $15,920.20 to settle a lawsuit by Bossard Associates, Inc. Available documentation does not reveal the circumstances of the dispute, but the settlement agreement says it resolves claims for court reporting services provided to DC on or before …
Electronic Court Records Permissible in Florida, but Restricting Disclosure is Not by Florida’s Supreme Court has implemented rules related to court reporting services and the use of electronic recordings of court proceedings. The rules were promulgated as amendments to the Florida Rules of Judicial Administration and the Florida Rules of …
Significant Injury Showing Not Required to Defeat Qualified Immunity in Excessive Force Case by The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit rejected a claim for qualified immunity by a Texas prison guard who used excessive force against a prisoner. Texas state prisoner Marcus Brown alleged that in 1998 …
Article • August 15, 2008
Florida Prisoners Have No Right to “Free” Public Records by Florida’s First District Court of Appeals has held that a prisoner is not entitled to free copies of records in the custody of the state attorney and the clerk of the Court. The Court said that prisoners are “in the …
Article • July 15, 2008
OH PRA Only Required that Indigent Prisoner Be Given One Free Copy of Trial Transcript by Jonathan Call, an Ohio state prisoner, filed a mandamus action in state court to compel an appellate court judge to provide him with a free copy of his trial transcripts, pursuant to the state …
Article • June 15, 2008
Florida Prisoners Have No Right to “Free” Public Records by Florida’s First District Court of Appeals has held that a prisoner is not entitled to free copies of records in the custody of the state attorney and the clerk of the Court. The Court said that prisoners are “in the …
Article • June 15, 2008
Michigan FOIA Doesn’t Require Disclosure of Court Documents by Parnell Seaton, a Michigan state prisoner, filed suit in state court to compel the prosecutor to disclose court documents and transcripts from his criminal trial, pursuant to the state Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Mich. Comp. Laws § 15.231 et seq. …
Article • December 15, 2007
Texas Prisoners Not Entitled To Records Request Under 2004 Act by Texas State prisoner Michael Cox appealed a 2006 Lubbock, Texas, court order denying his request for records concerning his 1992 conviction. The court interpreted his request as an attempt to appeal his case over a decade late and affirmed …
Article • May 15, 2007
Tape Recorded Depositions' Intent: Cost Efficiency by A federal district court in Illinois has held that the intent of Fed.R.Civ.P. 30(b)(4) is to make a significant contribution to the efficient and economic administration of justice. The Court outlined several principles for promulgating guidelines to safeguard the non-stenographic record. First, allocation …
Tenth Circuit Reverses Disciplinary Convictions For Pursuing Post-conviction Relief by Tenth Circuit Reverses Disciplinary Convictions For Pursuing Post-conviction Relief The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit reversed two Oklahoma State prisoners disciplinary convictions for violating a state statute. The prisoners were wrongly convicted and punished for a misinterpretation …
Article • May 15, 2007
Washington DOC Pays $156 for Losing Court Tape by In 1999, the State of Washington paid Robert D. Wrinkle $156 to settle a court access suit. Wrinkle, a prisoner confined at Clallam Bay Corrections Center in Clallam Bay, Washington, filed suit in 1995 alleging that the Department of Corrections and …
Indigents Cannot be Denied Post-Conviction Transcripts or Appeals by The United States Supreme Court held that a state may not deny post-conviction appellate review to a prisoner, who could not afford the to acquire a transcript of the proceedings. Oddly, this case stems from the 1945 Indiana enactment of the …
Reasons for Refusing to Call Witnesses Need Not Be Documented by The U.S. Supreme Court vacated and remanded a lower court's ruling that a prison disciplinary board's reason for refusing to call requested witnesses must be part of the official hearing record. The ruling resulted from a complaint filed by …
Court Reporter Jailed for Botching VitaPro Trial Transcripts; Convicted Prison Chief Still Free by The latest development in the unsavory Texas VitaPro scandal is the jailing of a court reporter for botching the transcripts in the VitaPro trial. In 1995, George W. Bush was the governor of Texas and James …
Article • November 15, 1997 • from PLN November, 1997
Washington Officials Liable for Seizing Court Tape by In an unpublished ruling, the court of appeals for the ninth circuit held prison officials were not entitled to qualified immunity for intentionally withholding a prisoner's video taped court transcript. Robert Wrinkle a Washington state prisoner at the Clallam Bay Corrections Center, …
Article • October 15, 1997 • from PLN October, 1997
Recent US Supreme Court Rulings of Interest: Court Access by The court struck down a Mississippi law that conditioned appeals in parental rights cases to prepayment of record preparation fees, with no provisions for indigents. The case involved a mother who lost parental rights, forever, to her two minor children …
Attorney General Subject to Suit by Attorney General Wendy Ritz ordered the court reporter not to prepare the transcript, despite the court order to the contrary, because she thought the petition would be dismissed on procedural grounds. The state court called the AGs conduct "outrageous" and ordered the attorney generals …