doesn't sound good,hope all the court rooms will be able to authenticate the tape,I mean a very good editing tool and a CG expert working on it may come out with real frightening stuff. Who would say that the dinasours of jurrasic park didn't look real :)
Sarath. --- "R. A. Hettinga" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > <http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=84540> > > The Orange County Register > > Monday, March 8, 2004 > > Evidence is clear: Videos convict > And sometimes it's the accused themselves who > provide the taped version > of the smoking gun. > > > By LARRY WELBORN > The Orange County Register > > > Twelve jurors and two alternates sat almost > unblinkingly in a 10th-floor > courtroom and watched a 21-minute videotape on two > television monitors. > > Some squirmed in the swivel seats in the jury box > but their eyes remained > riveted on the screens, watching images of two men > having sex with an > apparently unconscious woman in a Newport Beach > apartment as techno music > droned in the background. > > The trial of Allen Ward Crocker provided jurors with > a rare chance to see > exactly what happened in a case of alleged sexual > assault. > > Most of the time, jurors must decide guilt or > innocence based on witness > memories, documents or expert testimony. But with > the inexpensive but > still-sharp video cameras in existence these days, > videotaped evidence is > becoming more and more common in criminal > courtrooms, veteran lawyers say. > > The Crocker case has similarities to the pending > prosecution of Gregory > Haidl, the son of an assistant sheriff, and two of > his teenage friends. > > They face trial next month in the alleged rape of > an unconscious > 16-year-old girl in July 2002. > > Haidl, 18, videotaped the encounter in Newport > Beach, and now prosecutors > are using those images against him. > > The accused aren't the only ones providing police > with videotape to show > jurors. > > In Los Angeles, an amateur photographer recorded > the notorious videotape > of Rodney King being beaten by Los Angeles police > officers. And in Orange > County, a surveillance camera at a convenience store > captured images of a > former mental patient murdering sheriff's Deputy > Brad Riches. > > "I call it the proliferation of Little Brother," > said Costa Mesa defense > attorney Paul S. Meyer, who has prosecuted and > defended in criminal cases > in Orange County for more than 30 years. "You know, > just about everyone has > a video camera these days. It's only common sense > that these videotapes are > showing up in trials." > > In the Crocker case, it took the eight-man, > four-woman jury just 90 minutes > to reach a verdict: guilty of rape. > > Deputy District Attorney Steve McGreevy argued that > the videotape clearly > depicted a crime-in-progress: The woman was > unconscious after an evening of > bar-hopping in Newport Beach and unable to give > consent. > > Defense attorney Robert Chatterton insisted that > the videotape showed that > if the woman was unconscious, then Crocker, 36, of > Tustin, was unaware of > it. Crocker had a good-faith belief that the woman > consented to sex, > Chatterton argued. > > "We were able to witness it ourselves," said juror > Kristina Durbin, 27, a > health-care worker who lives in Mission Viejo. > "Without the videotape, I > wouldn't have been able to reach the decision > because he would have been > able to put doubt in my mind. But with the > videotape, the crime he was > charged with was right in front of me." > > The rape was caught on tape because Crocker's > friend and alleged > accomplice, Tim Marino, 41, started his video camera > rolling after the > victim passed out. > > The victim testified that she didn't know what was > happening to her and > didn't know that the episode had been videotaped. > > A $500,000 arrest warrant has been issued for > Marino, who never kept an > appointment with a Newport Beach police detective > after an investigation of > the Sept. 14, 2003, encounter was launched. > > Prominent Orange County defense attorney Jennifer > Keller, a former deputy > public defender and a former president of the Orange > County Bar > Association, said videotaped crimes won't be so rare > in the future. > > "It seems everything we do now is recorded or > videotaped," Keller said. "To > our children, video cameras are second nature." > > Assistant District Attorney Roseanne Froeberg, head > of the office's > sex-crimes unit, said there have been sporadic cases > in the past in which > rapes or other sex crimes were memorialized on > videotape. But she said she > is seeing more of them lately. > > "It does make it easier for us to prosecute when > criminals videotape > themselves in the act," she said. "But to me, it is > a sad commentary on our > society. Videotaping their perversions for sport > takes things to different > level. An incredibly ugly level, in my opinion." > > Said Meyer: "I call these ego crimes, where the > criminals memorialize their > deeds on videotape." And yes, he added, "we will be > seeing more and more of > these." > > -- > ----------------- > R. A. Hettinga <mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> > The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation > <http://www.ibuc.com/> > 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA > "... however it may deserve respect for its > usefulness and antiquity, > [predicting the end of the world] has not been found > agreeable to > experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of > the Roman Empire' > __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Search - Find what you�re looking for faster http://search.yahoo.com
