Ride the Lightning

Judges Notices Moving Courtroom Camera – Sheriff Zooming in on Defense Papers

February 13, 2019

The ABA Journal posted a remarkable (and scary) story on February 7th. Superior Court Judge Kathryn Loring, in San Juan County, Washington, noticed the movement of the normally stationary camera from a computer monitor near the court administrator’s desk. The camera began panning, tilting and zooming in on the jury box and counsel tables.

She notified retired Judge Donald Eaton, who was acting as a temporary district court judge and hearing a case in the courtroom at the time. San Juan County Sheriff Ron Krebs admitted to manipulating the camera from the sheriff’s dispatch office, and according to court filings, he insisted that the incident was isolated and unintentional but resulted from security concerns about the defendant in the case. Lopez Island resident Dustin Schible was on trial for charges of fourth-degree assault, harassment and first-degree criminal trespass.

After the misconduct was revealed, Eaton informed Colleen Kenimond, the San Juan County public defender who was representing Schible, and Randall Gaylord, the San Juan County prosecutor. Eaton reviewed the video, sequestered the jury and began a hearing on the matter, which included testimony from Loring, Krebs and the county’s technology expert.

Eaton dismissed the charges against Schible after the hearing, citing government misconduct that violated his right to a fair trial. According to the Seattle Times, screenshots from the video that “show close-ups of a trial exhibit, a steno book belonging to the No. 3 juror in the case, and a legal pad belonging to Kenimond were introduced as evidence at the hearing and influenced Eaton’s decision to dismiss the charges."

Krebs said in a sworn declaration that he “inadvertently manipulated the camera in the district courtroom in such a way that it zoomed in on one or more locations in the courtroom” and said he didn’t read or share anything he might have seen. He also claimed he didn’t realize the camera could zoom. (oh really?)

Eaton sealed video from the surveillance camera but scheduled a hearing to determine whether to release it publicly. Local civil rights lawyer Nick Power is pushing to make the courtroom video public, arguing in court filings that the misconduct raises several issues, including why the camera has a zoom function and whether the camera can be controlled by other county agencies.

The remarks by the sheriff seemed quite disingenuous to me – and I share Power's concerns about the misuse of courtroom cameras.

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