For the Defense - Vol. 8, Issue 4 - 37

" Boolean " logic. Natural language searches would come much
later. In 1979, dial-up access to the database was offered over
phone lines to its customers. Westlaw was also purchased on
computer disks and installed on desktop computers. By the early
to mid-1980s, Westlaw terminals and the services it offered were
increasingly common. Today, Westlaw features more than 40,000
databases of information.8
When I started to practice, to determine if a case was still " good
law " lawyers used a set of books called Shepard's. The books were
nothing more than page after page of columns of numbers and
letters, with the citation of the " cited " case in bold and the " citing
cases " underneath in columns of smaller print. West introduced
Westlaw KeyCite®
in 1997 to compete with the Shepard printed
version. In response, the Shepard's Citation Service went online in
1999. Today, many start (and too many finish) their legal research
on Google. Some apparently even use ChatGPT (at their own
peril).9
Technology in the Courtroom
I vividly remember the first time I used a computer in the
courtroom at trial. The case was United States v. Mangiardi et al,.10
The trial before Judge James F. McClure, Jr. in Williamsport took
fifty-four trial days over five months. Joshua Lock, Patrick Casey,
and I were defending three men accused of health insurance
fraud. The alleged scheme involved the creation of a legitimate
employer health insurance plan company and selling employee
coverage to small and medium sized businesses. The indictment
contained sixteen counts but ran for many pages describing in
detail the scheme and the conspiracy. During discovery, I asked
the prosecutors for an electronic copy of the indictment to save
retyping it into a different format. They refused. We filed a motion
to compel an electronic copy of the indictment and it was heard
by Judge Malcolm Muir.11
Judge Muir graduated from Lehigh
Judge William I. Arbuckle
Smoking In Jail
From 1975 until 1981, I was a public defender in two Ohio
counties and then Chief Public Defender in Erie County. During
that time, my work brought me into at least twenty-five different
local, state, and federal jails. I always carried a pack of cigarettes.
The initial exchange of pleasantries with a client included offering
the client a smoke. Most said 'yes'. By 1990, many jails banned
smoking and today none of the jails in Pennsylvania allow
smoking. While the health and financial reasons jails have banned
tobacco are easy to understand, the genuine gratitude of a recent
arrestee who has not had a smoke in a day or two made those
initial interviews a little easier.
Computer Assisted Legal Research
In 1974, West Publishing developed a computer system that
searched " headnotes " only in the West reporters. The headnote
system entered the market with its technology in 1975. Lexis was
out a year earlier but only with Ohio and New York databases. In
1978, Westlaw began to provide full-text search for cases using
with a degree in Engineering in 1935. The first handheld scientific
calculator was not introduced until 1972 and Judge Muir did not
use a computer until well after 2000. Although he did not use
technology, he understood efficiency and ordered the government
to provide the indictment " on a disk. " It was eventually provided
to us on a 3 1/2 " IBM compatible disk. During the trial, we divided
up tasks and I was tapped to provide daily notes of the testimony
and exhibits as our clients could not afford daily transcripts. Judge
McClure granted our motion to allow me to use a " portable
laptop " in the courtroom remarking that he had never seen one
used in court but that it was probably the future.
Judge McClure was also featured in another " technology " saga
that I will never forget. In 2004, Ann Shapiro and I were appointed
to represent two men accused of stealing over one million dollars
from a corporation. My client was a lawyer based in California.
The government objected to bail but he was granted bail with
an ankle monitor requirement. We had a hearing in Williamsport
on relatively short notice. The client went to the Los Angeles
airport early in the morning but was rejected by TSA because
he was still wearing the ankle monitor. Unsure what to do, he
called the friend who dropped him off at the airport to come
back and get him. When his friend arrived back at the airport, he
suggested that the defendant simply cut off the ankle monitor
and get on the plane. He did and when he arrived in Williamsport
the government had filed a motion to revoke his bail for cutting
off the bracelet. We wanted his friend to testify, and since Judge
McClure had just moved into the District's first " technology
courtroom, " we proposed using that technology for a video link
Vol. 8, Issue 4 l For The Defense 37
For the Defense - Vol. 8, Issue 4

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