The DeKalb County District Attorney's Office will be the first in Georgia to use online video conferencing in courtrooms for elderly witnesses, the district attorney announced Wednesday.
DeKalb District Attorney Robert James said his prosecutors will use Gmail's two-way video conferencing for a deposition.
A judge recently granted a motion to allow a 90-year-old fraud and credit card theft victim to testify on video in the event she is unable to attend the trial because of illness or death. The video preserves the testimony indefinitely, James said.
Prosecutors and a public defender will be with the victim when she testifies.
Courts have used similar technology for child sex victims to avoid testifying in front of their alleged attackers, but this is the first time in Georgia it will be used for an elderly person, James said.
James said the technology will show the victim's emotions, reactions and body language, instead of reading a written statement in court.
“This is a big win for our office and groundbreaking for the state of Georgia,” he said. “This is an essential use of technology to preserve the testimony of ill and elderly victims.”
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