by Charmaine Lewis, associate producer

The San Diego Superior Court and the San Diego District Attorney are not strangers to television.  The reality franchise of the long-running Law and Order Series on NBC, "Law & Order: Crime and Punishment" was filmed there. 

The trial of Sean Goff took place in Department 56, the courtroom of Judge Robert F. O'Neill. Judge O'Neill was very open to the idea of the trial being filmed, as long as we respected the rules of the court, did not disrupt the proceedings or interfere with the defendant's right to a fair trial. Naturally, we were not allowed to film the jury.

As Department 56 is quite small, there was no room to place full sized cameras. Dateline hired Street Visions, a company that specializes in small robotic, remote control cameras. (You've seen their work in our series:  "To Catch a Predator.") They ran hundreds of feet of cabling to connect the cameras and controls to a control room where digital video decks recorded every minute of action.  The control room, while it sounds fancy, was nothing more than a little curtained off area in the hallway just outside of the courtroom. They hung heavy black draping on sturdy steel poles. It was just big enough for a couple tables to hold the recording equipment and three chairs. Inspite of the air conditioning, the "control room" became quite hot as the summer sun streamed in from the large windows running the length of the hallway. 

We shot five hours of tape every day-- three angles for a trial total of 90 tapes. We were careful to keep in mind the judge's admonition that the filming not interfere with the legal process.   The placement of the cameras was relatively unobtrusive. The judge said they looked like coffee makers on stilts. The staff and audience and even the witnesses didn't seem to mind the cameras. At the start of jury selection, the judge told the jury of Dateline’s presence.  Once during trial, the defense accused a witness of grandstanding for the camera.

We placed microphones around the courtroom and the attorneys wore wireless microphones.  During "sidebars," we turned down the sound on the microphones. 

Sometimes one or both attorneys would forget to turn on his microphones. When this happened, my soundman alerted me with text messages.  Since I couldn't speak directly to the attorneys while the proceedings were ongoing, I had to get the attention of the court bailiff, James, who in turn, with a pre-arranged gesture, would signal the attorneys. The difficulty lay in getting the bailiff's attention without disrupting court. I used several questionable methods, like staring holes into him or ripping a piece of paper to draw his attention. Sometimes I rose slightly from my seat so that the notoriously squeaky chairs would squeak.  However, there were times, in crucial testimony, when someone's microphone was off, and I had to take the direct approach-- get up, crawl over my neighbors and go to the bailiff. That approach always seemed to work.

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