Articles

The Proof by the Web

April 19, 2002
Liberation

“It is devastating proof in the courtroom,” says one American Lawyer. “More so than the testimony of any expert’” adds a colleague. For several years now, the work of more and more high-tech, web-based design companies are making their way into American courts. The use of such companies dates back to the 1991 San Francisco trial of Jim Mitchell, the so-called King of Porn, for the murder of his brother, Artie. At the request of the defendant, a design firm set up a web-site with an animation of the reenactment of the murder. Jim Mitchell was later acquitted of murder. All the witnesses of this case agree; the virtual crime scene had a decisive impact on the judgment of Jim Mitchell.

Since then, companies specializing in this type of graphics have multiplied in the United States. Among them, Animators at Law, one of the oldest, is also the most significant. On the welcome page of their web site (http://www.animators.com) there is a list of clients that Animators has worked for in the past. In addition to AOL and the Red Cross, one finds some of the largest and most influential law firms in the country, including Morrison and Forrester and Latham and Watkins. Among their many accomplishments, Animators is proud to have allowed a man to win his lawsuit against an airline whose plane crashed, resulting in the death of 5 of his family members. “More than any one simple exhibit, our work made it possible for the jury to relive the three minutes of anguish before the crash, and thus better understand the horror,” explains Ken Lopez, President and CEO of Animators. In the same vein, Lopez tells the importance of the work they did in the case of a medical malpractice suit. “Whereas the plaintiff had lost in the first round of court, we were able to produce, in detail, an animation of how the operation in question should normally proceed. That animation, along with testimony from an expert, allowed the plaintiff to make their case clearly and win the suit.”

To illustrate their effectiveness, Animators at Law put a series of courtroom animations and exhibits prepared for various cases on their web site. For even the most recalcitrant of attorneys, these cyber-lawyers explain that “in a country where the first source of information is television, evidence like animations and visual exhibits will have inevitably more impact than writing or testimony.”

This same argument is often used by those opposed to the mainstreaming of such courtroom technology. They fear that the force of the animated images could totally eclipse other legal arguments that might be brought forth. One lawyer explains “Everyone is entertained by a good animation on television, but that is no reason to let Bugs Bunny have the last word in the courtroom.”