- A court reporter is present in the court room during every stage and proceeding of the trial. The court reporter's job is to electronically record the entire trial, and at the same time dictate every word spoken during the trial. After trial, the court reporter uses the electronic recording to verify that he has accurately typed all of the dialogue and testimony from the trial.
- The court reporter delivers a written transcript to the court and to each of the parties who participated in the trial. Each of the parties will have an opportunity to review the transcript for accuracy, and submit any notations of inaccuracies back to the court reporter. The court reporter will correct any inaccuracies, if necessary, and resubmit a final trial transcript that becomes the official record of the trial.
- A trial transcript is, in general, a part of the public court record, which means members of the press and the general public can obtain copies of the trial transcript. The only exception is when a judge orders the trial transcript sealed in order to protect the privacy of somebody involved, which generally only happens when the trial relates to a child, or to a matter of national security.
- The trial transcript becomes part of the appellate record, assuming one of the parties appeals the trial court's decision. The Court of Appeals will review the trial transcript on appeal in order to resolve any of the arguments raised on appeal. The trial transcript allows the appellate court to review all evidence and testimony presented at the trial. The transcript also contains a record of any objections raised by the attorneys during trial.
previous post