Here
in Boston two high-profile matters will soon be brought to trial, the former New England Patriots tight end Aaron
Hernandez murder case and the Dzhokhar Tsarnaev/Boston Marathon Bombing
case. Both matters have garnered national attention, so much so that the
process of jury selection alone, especially in the Tsarnaev case, will be long
and arduous. The stakes are high on both sides, and the public’s interest
has not waned with the passage of time. All eyes may be on the
defendants, but ours will be on the court reporters.
The
court reporters who are assigned to cover these lengthy trials will be charged
with capturing every word spoken. They will be under immense pressure, as
they will probably have to provide a realtime feed to counsel and the Court ,
and perhaps others off site, as well as quick, if not immediate, transcript
delivery. To accomplish this, they will have done their due diligence,
reading as much about their assigned case as possible and putting words into
their respective dictionaries.
During
the trials, a parade of witnesses will appear before them, some with accents,
some speaking at breakneck speeds, others speaking softly or mumbling, and it
will fall on them to navigate through it all, performing their duties quietly
and unobtrusively, with limited interruptions. There will be arguments,
bench conferences, noises in the background that interfere with their
concentration. No doubt there will be thick binders of exhibits to keep
track of as well as the chronology of witness testimony under direct, cross,
redirect, and recross examinations. In addition, they may have to field
requests from the press for immediate transcript excerpts.
These
reporters will basically put their lives on hold to concentrate on the task at
hand, reporting by day and editing by night, for weeks at a time. We
anticipate both trials, but especially the Tsarnaev trial, will be challenging
and exhausting, but we are sure they will have a great sense of personal and
professional pride and accomplishment in the end.
Hats
off to our dedicated and talented colleagues. They are proving that they
are an indispensible part of the legal system. We will be cheering them
on from the sidelines.
