In the third week of the Alex Murdaugh double murder trial, Circuit Court Judge Clifton B. Newman and Defense Attorney Dick Harpootlian discuss “how bad” the rough draft provided of the record by a digital firm was. Judge Newman also offers clarification that the rough draft was not provided by South Carolina court reporters, who he refers to as “excellent,” with Harpootlian calling the digital rough drafts a “deficit product.” View the exchange here.
The court reporter is the official officer creating the verbatim record of a proceeding. NCRA members are certified professionals who are dedicated guardians of the record, adhering to strict ethical guidelines and industry standards.
“The importance of using an NCRA certified court reporter is critical in order to maintain the integrity and accuracy of a transcript. A certified court reporter would not have produced a transcript, even a rough draft, full of ‘inaudibles’ or incorrect testimony,” said South Carolina Court Reporter Lauren A. Balogh, RPR, “This is truly another example of why digital reporting should not have a place in the courtroom.”
View the working list of recent digital failures in other national, well-known cases compiled by the NCRA STRONG Committee here.
