Holographic witnesses give evidence before US judges

By Guy Campos in Displays, Education, Government and defence, US&Canada May 17, 2023 0

Federal and military judges have presided over mock trials at the William & Mary Center for Legal & Court Technology using a $65,000 Proto holographic display booth.

Holographic witnesses have given evidence in mock trials presided over by federal and military judges in the US.

The trials have taken place in a partnership between the Centre for Legal and Court Technology at the College of William & Mary and holographic display booth pioneer Proto.

Speaking in a college YouTube video, Frederic I Lederer, director of the Center for Legal and Court Technology, said: "In the legal system we place a great deal of weight on what is called demeanour evidence. That means the ability of a judge or juror to determine, for instance, whether a witness is telling the truth in whole or in part.

"It is really, really hard to to do that on one of the standard videoconferencing applications. This allows you to pretty much do exactly what you’d be doing if that person were physically in the room."

Judge John Gibney Jr, who sits on the US District Court for the Eastern Distrit of Virginia and who presided over a mock trial, told the Reuters news agency testimony from holographic witnesses wasn't as good as having witnesses in person but was better than seeing them on a video screen.

He added: "The improved definition in the picture gave the people watching and hearing the witness a better chance to evaluate their credibility."

Reuters reported that there was a several-second delay in witnesses responding to questions, owing to the use of an internet connection with the Proto Epic display, which is said to be priced at £65,000 with leasing options available.

In the US, there is also a question mark over whether holographic testimony would be constitutional as the Sixth Amendment gives the accused in criminal trials the right to confront witnesses against them. Courts have allowed some child witnesses to testify remotely in criminal cases but the US Supreme Court has yet to clarify the right of adult witnesses to give testimony remotely.

The closer resemblance of Proto displays to real-life testimony, by comparison with typical UC platforms, makes for a strong case that it complies with the law, according to Wiliam & Mary's Lederer.

William & Mary's Center for Legal & Court Technology was founded in 1993 as a joint project of the law school and the National Center for State Courts. The centre conducts laboratory trials exploring the use of technology in the legal system and has previously won Silicon Valley Community Foundation funding for research into AI, the blockchain, IoT and data analytics.