ABSTRACT
Neither courts nor courtrooms have been immune to modern technology. Faced not only with an inherent interest in enhancing basic efficiency, courts must now cope with the general adoption of electronic communications, data-oriented and often data intensive litigation, and the benefits of trial technologies. In criminal cases, evidence increasingly includes audio-video recordings from cell phones, drones, and body cameras, and it often seems that no case can take place without evidence obtained from social media. As a result, an increasing number of courts are dependent upon technology. Many courts use electronic filing and case management systems to manage their caseloads. Technology-augmented courtrooms permit the visual display of evidence at trial, to include potentially 3D, holographic, and immersive virtual reality display of evidence and argument, 2 internet-capable court record (e.g. the transcript or audio-video record of the proceedings), remote appearances by judges, counsel, witnesses, and jurors, and assistive technology. Virtual trials in which no human beings appear in a physical courtroom are possible. This chapter will address these developments, emphasizing technology-augmented courtrooms and the degree to which trials may become virtual ones. In doing so, it will concentrate on criminal matters, recognizing, however, that most courts deal with criminal and civil matters.
