RECENT EXAMPLES OF CASES WHERE COURT REPORTERS WERE NOT PRESENT:

• Earlier this year, a murder trial was dismissed in Frederick, Maryland, because there was a glitch in the recorder. After two days of testimony and opening statements, it was discovered that the equipment was malfunctioning and nothing had been recorded. A mistrial was declared, and the families will now have to relive the tragedy of the trial when the case is reheard
• In 2001, a hearing regarding the navigability of the John Day River in Oregon was ruled a mistrial after the court computer failed to record all of the testimony. Only a few parts of the five-day trial involving nearly 200 defendants were recorded.
• In 2002, a man named Henry Rudolph was tried for burglary, sexual assault and violation of a protective order in the Utah Supreme Court. A malfunction in the recording system destroyed the record, and a new trial was ordered.
• James Nichols
  was a material witness in the Oklahoma City bombing trials. In April of 1995, his testimony was heard before a U.S. magistrate judge. The hearing was recorded, and the tape was sealed for secrecy. Since no court reporter was present, this tape was the only record of the hearing. When a Detroit newspaper obtained an order for the tape to be unsealed, it was revealed that the tape was blank.