Should court testimony happen in person? Or would a video feed work just as well? As Michael Pope tells us, lawmakers in Richmond say Skype should be coming to a courthouse near you.
Republican Senator Ben Chafin of Lebanon says getting experts to come to courthouses in Southwest Virginia can be a challenge.
“Where I practice, the experts are often traveling several hundred miles to come to trial and to testify, and our clients have to foot the bill for all that travel time.”
That’s why the senator is pushing an effort that would allow video testimony for preliminary hearings and motions. He says the technology is already there and courthouses merely have to adapt. But does that undermine the ability of judges and lawyers to take advantage of reading body language? Republican Delegate Les Adams of Chatham voted against the bill this week because, he says, it’s particularly a bad idea to allow a witness to be cross-examined over a video screen.
“As any trial practitioner will know, sometimes you can read a witness a little bit differently based on a particular question than you can over a video.”
The bill has already passed the Senate, and the House will consider it later this week.