Gaveling in the New Year on West Nueva

By Matthew Carpenter

After forty-six years of dedicated public service, the John H. Wood, Jr. United States Courthouse in San Antonio has seen its last day of court. The iconic building that hosted events during the 1968 World’s Fair in Hemisfair Park has gone through many changes over the years. Officially dedicated as the federal district courthouse in November 1975, it has seen several infamous cases come and go. In recent years, however, the building has struggled to remain habitable due to structural challenges that are well documented. Since the building was not intended to operate as a courthouse, it is an impressive feat for it to have stood as long as it has. The list of issues with the physical infrastructure grew in recent years, as have other issues that affect effective operation. As trial practices have modernized in the past twenty years, the site fought to remain current and meet the technology needs of attorneys, judges, and the public. It has been clear for quite some time that no amount of work in the existing space would enable the court to meet those needs in full. After more than a decade of work to secure funding and location, the project to build a new federal courthouse in San Antonio is finally complete. With the new year, comes new opportunity on 262 West Nueva Street.

The doors to the new federal courthouse officially opened to the public on January 3, 2022. This state-of-the-art building offers a fresh perspective in many ways, but none as seismic as the technology it affords to all parties. The new courthouse is home to multiple federal agencies, all of which benefit from the modernization effort. In the design process, it was important for us to use the experience of attorneys in court who navigated the limitations the Wood courthouse presented. This is the same approach taken in projects throughout the Western District of Texas. For example, these efforts are in line with recent projects to modernize the historic courtroom in Waco and the district courtroom in Del Rio. Using features implemented in these projects and key input from various parties, the San Antonio courthouse is the district’s most advanced offering to date. From complex litigation matters that have significant public interest to recent challenges with the pandemic, many factors were taken into consideration to implement technology to meet current and future needs in the courtroom.

In the new courthouse, there are eight courtrooms. Five are for district judges. Two are for magistrate judges, and one is a special proceedings courtroom. New standards in national policy require courts to be prepared for courtroom sharing. This can present challenges in a growing division like San Antonio. How can the court be agile enough to meet the courthouse’s future needs with limited resources? This was a prime consideration in the design process, leading us to push for all of the technology offerings in all of the courtrooms to be equal. Although not every proceeding needs it, we implemented all of what we will cover in this article in every courtroom. Whether you are a court employee, an attorney, a party, a juror, or the public, your experience will be the same.

If there is one thing the pandemic has taught us, it is that remote hearings, witnesses, and sometimes criminal defendants are here to stay in some form. To accommodate that shift in the way court runs, in-room cameras of high quality are a necessity. There are two permanent cameras in each courtroom. One is in the back of the room by the entrance, and one is behind the witness stand.

The camera in the back of the room is intended to frame either the judge or the witness. Presets at the courtroom deputy’s station control panel allow the camera to quickly switch back and forth, as needed in real time. The second camera is available to point at any of the attorney tables, the podium, or the parties. Depending on what is occurring in court, the courtroom deputy can make one or both cameras visible to those outside of the room. Along with making remote proceedings possible, the cameras also allow the people in court to spread out if necessary to accommodate social distancing. With video streaming available, the public can also be seated in other areas of the courthouse, such as the jury assembly room or another courtroom, should the judge prefer. Aside from health concerns, this is also an opportunity to better serve cases of high public interest, which may draw more visitors to the courthouse. This approach has been used in other Western District divisions, such as Austin.

Coverage and quality of the audio at the Wood courthouse have been a challenge for many years. Because high-quality audio is the lifeblood of the court record, the opportunity the new courthouse presents to modernize this service is crucial for public interest. Great effort has been put forth to design a system that provides excellent sound and recording quality. You can expect gooseneck and shock mount microphones in various locations. In the layouts shown here, everything you see in gold is a permanent microphone location. There are two at each attorney table and one at the probation or pretrial table, which can double as another attorney table when needed. There is one microphone at the podium, the witness stand, the judge’s bench, and the lower bench. A hidden boundary microphone in the podium enhances ambient coverage. Finally, there is a side bar microphone next to the judge’s bench.

The two that are marked in purple are optional microphone opportunities. One is at the jury rail, and the other is in the gallery to support voir dire. These are all physically connected microphone options, which provide the best audio quality experience. There are also wireless handheld and lavaliere microphones available. Audio recording has been upgraded to provide eight channels for isolation, and this capability can be set up in any courtroom should the need arise, but it is active by default in magistrate courtrooms. You can anticipate a professional level audio experience in all of our courtrooms.

Having integrated video in every courtroom is a new venture for San Antonio. Gone are the days of video carts or the need to bring your own with you. In fact, please do not do that. Everyone in the room now has a clear path to view evidence. All the red locations indicated on the room layout (above) represent either a monitor or control panel that can display video. These are available at the podium, attorney tables, probation table, law clerk station, the upper and lower benches, the witness stand, and the jury box.

The jury has access to a twenty-seven-inch (27-inch) monitor for every two jurors, spaced perfectly to allow full visibility. They also have the flexibility to move the screen up and down, giving line of sight access to a witness or the parties, instead of having to look down. For the public, there is a large screen that can swing out and face the gallery. The courtroom deputy controls all aspects of video in the room and will decide when and what is published in each location. When evidence is being presented, the courtroom deputy will preview and then publish it to the court. If a witness is involved, there is the flexibility for the court to show him or her alongside the evidence on the screen. This includes annotation capability for attorneys and a witness in the same view.

One of the most important improvements that we are offering is advancement in evidence presentation. We know that a successful argument in court is dependent upon the reliability of the services provided, as well as options that are current and standard practice. Having modern connectivity to the courtroom for evidence presentation is an essential function, one that we struggled with at the Wood courthouse for years. Long ago, the “courtroom of the future” was developed in the former courthouse, offering technology that was current over twenty years ago. Only one courtroom was updated, leaving all others far behind. Unfortunately, even that courtroom fell out of standard over time. In the new courthouse, great efforts have been made to not only modernize, but also to maintain, standards as we move forward. The other critical element in future success is consistency. Consistency of input type and availability ensures that all parties know what to expect when they arrive for a proceeding. As mentioned, all courtrooms in the new courthouse offer the same evidence presentation opportunities.

Through a Wolfvision document camera, display of physical evidence is broadcast in 4K UHD quality with 64x zoom capability. This option is available in a drawer on the side of the podium. When not in use, it can elegantly be hidden away. Aside from physical evidence, the most common evidence display is through a laptop, camera, or other technology that attorneys bring to court. All are accounted for through HDMI connections available in various locations in the courtroom. Providing a single connection type simplifies what you need to bring to court and ensures that the highest quality standard is available. The design of the courtroom also allows us to upgrade the connection type very easily when standards change in the future. Modern cabling techniques allow for flexibility, something not previously available in the district.

Attorneys will bear the responsibility for either having an HDMI output or an adapter to convert to this standard. HDMI accounts for video and audio output, so no other connection is needed when presenting. This is different from older standards like VGA, which cannot transmit audio and require multiple connections. If you are presenting from an iOS device such as an iPad or an Android-based tablet, adapters are typically available to connect such devices to HDMI, as well. Simply put: one connection, many devices.

HDMI connections are available at the podium, each attorney table, and the witness stand. To maximize flexibility in evidence presentation, we have the unique offering of connections at two additional locations in front of the gallery rail. We call these “litigation support” locations. Either party can have staff sit at the gallery bench in front of the rail and provide input to the room. 1 There are power and HDMI inputs available there. This allows litigation support in complex cases to be out of the way of the attorney tables. As is almost always the case, a hard-wired connection is the most reliable and simplest to execute. Simply plug into an HDMI connection, and the courtroom deputy can publish your connection, a two-step process.

If you are interested in a more modern option to connect, we also offer wireless sharing. As you may know, Apple products can many times be an adapter challenge due to changes in connection options, or lack of outputs altogether. This comes into play, for example, when you need to share content from a device such as an iPad and do not have an adapter for HDMI. In that case, you can use our new AirMedia system from Crestron. AirMedia allows for the built-in screen share capability on a device to broadcast into the room.

To prepare for this, you can install the application provided by the manufacturer on any iOS, Android, or even Windows device if you prefer. 2 Use of this application, though, requires a unique set up for each courtroom. A “key” is provided by the courtroom deputy in each courtroom to register the location of your AirMedia application. Once set up, you can reuse that set up on your next visit to the courthouse. This option offers excellent flexibility, but it takes more work to set up. We encourage all attorneys to test and verify any evidence option they will be using in advance.

Aside from the courtrooms, there are many other areas of the courthouse that are enhanced with technology. From the jury assembly room to state-of-the-art conference rooms, deliberate enhancements will make the building a productive space for many years to come. One area that presents a new opportunity in San Antonio is the 215-footdeep atrium that covers 10,000 square feet. This space, located in the center of the courthouse, features two key pieces of local art that pay tribute to the San Pedro Creek and an abstract homage to the balance of justice through a two-story tall glasswork piece at the east entrance. The atrium is equipped with a large stage at the deep end, near the jury assembly room, and is ready to host three hundred to five hundred people for events. The Court anticipates being able to host its own naturalization ceremonies.

The space is designed to have three mobile projection screens to share video from the main stage. These screens are positioned throughout the space to ensure that all visitors can see clearly. Audio is balanced to cover the full atrium with sound, with JBL speakers positioned at various locations. To ensure that hearing impaired and non-English speakers can participate in such events, the system also has infrared emitters and interpretation capability through court-supplied headsets. In the past, large events always had to be held at offsite locations. The ability to host the naturalization ceremonies onsite is a great privilege that the court family looks forward to in our new home.

The Western District of Texas is committed to providing services that fulfill the mission of the court to advance the administration of fair and impartial justice. As public servants, we take that mission very seriously, and our technology team has spent countless hours designing resources in the new courthouse. These decisions are not made in a vacuum. You play a critical role in the success of this endeavor. We welcome the federal bar to open and consistent dialogue with the court to ensure that all stakeholders have input in the future success of federal court proceedings in San Antonio. As I always say, innovation requires participation.

ENDNOTES

1. Gallery benches are not available in magistrate courtrooms. Should seating be needed at these support locations, be sure to communicate with the courtroom deputy.

2. AirMedia Apps [Crestron Electronics, Inc.]