[blindlaw] Being unable to see relevant evidence in a legal case

[RJ Sandefur]

Amy, I myself am not a lawyer, but I'd think that the lawyer would already 
know the contents of a photograph, video ect from reviewing the discovery. 
RJ
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "amy a" <amynick100 at gmail.com>
To: <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, August 24, 2013 8:35 AM
Subject: [blindlaw] Being unable to see relevant evidence in a legal case


> Hello, everyone,
>
> I am new to this mailing list.  As a person exploring the field of law, I 
> have a question about an obstacle blind people run into.
>
> How can you be a fair judge, jury member, or similar professional when you 
> cannot see relevant evidence?  By evidence, I mean visual indicators, such 
> as a video of a robbery, but I am also referring to cues such as 
> witnesses' facial expressions and body language.  I am mainly using 
> examples relating to criminal law here, but only because I know that the 
> best, and it is the first thing I can think of.  Feel free to refer to 
> other types of law when answering if it is relevant.
>
> I read the thread from September 2012, "Handling paper docs at hearings" 
> written by someone named Paul.  (If I am misquoting, I am sorry.)  Anyway, 
> the general consensus was that blind people who are doing hearings require 
> visual readers for the documents.  However, I am talking about the case of 
> a judge or jury member.  From what I know about law, which is not much, I 
> assume that one can correctly argue that if someone merely describes the 
> evidence for you, and you do not see it for yourself, it is only hearsay, 
> and the fact that you cannot directly see the evidence means that nothing 
> was proven "beyond a reasonable doubt".  Are there people who go to law 
> school to become readers and describers for blind judges and jurors, so 
> that what they describe can count as legally admissible evidence?
>
> When answering my question, please keep in mind that I have no official 
> legal training whatsoever.  Therefore, please avoid too many technical 
> terms that I might not be familiar with.  Furthermore, if this topic has 
> been discussed previously, and it probably has, I am sorry to repeat it, 
> but I was honestly too lazy to figure out how to search the archive.
>
> Thank you all so much in advance for your time, consideration, effort, and 
> comments.
>
> All the best,
>
> Amy
>
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