Transcription Case Study: Defense Attorney Danny Easterling
Modern technology offers great benefits to our legal system. Testimony and depositions from witnesses and defendants are now often recorded on video, providing a very thorough and accurate record for use by the legal teams involved.
In spite of the accuracy afforded by the video record, criminal defense attorney, Danny Easterling, has found this type of media lacks the convenience of a written transcript. It is more difficult to locate specific statements in a video than when looking through a written record. In general, video records are more cumbersome to utilize in the process of investigating and presenting a criminal case.
Transcription of Video
Danny Easterling is an attorney Board Certified in Criminal Law. He has been practicing in Harris County, Texas, for the past 37 years. He represents multiple defendants each year, facing serious charges like murder, aggravated sexual assault, aggravated robbery, DWI, drug related offenses, intoxicated manslaughter and others. He often receives video recordings of interviews with defendants and state witnesses. He considers transcriptions of these videos absolutely necessary for his work.
“It is absolutely necessary for me to send these recordings to Kelsey Transcripts in order to get written transcripts of such interviews,” Attorney Easterling explains. “I can then easily highlight and mark these transcripts during investigation and for trial preparation. These transcripts then become crucial whenever the witness testifies in court, where I can always impeach the witness with any inconsistent testimony.”
How Attorneys Use Transcription
It is obvious that trying to use video records, or even sound recordings, for these same purposes would be completely impractical. Written transcripts, whether printed on paper or in digital form, make the information easier to pinpoint.
Attorney Easterling also uses these transcriptions when discussing plea bargains with the District Attorney’s office. Again, it comes down to ease of access to specifics in the transcripts, as he shared with us, “…I have pointed out reasonable doubts, exaggerations or false statements I have discovered in the written transcripts.”
Attorney Easterling has stated that he chooses to use Kelsey Transcripts for his video transcription for the following reasons: “Kelsey Transcripts provides an excellent service, a fair price, quick turnaround and provides an essential service for the effective defense of criminal cases.”
Kelsey Transcripts considers it a privilege to serve Attorney Easterling and others who serve within the judicial system. We would love to chat with you about your transcription needs. Give us a call.