By Zach Nelson, news director, Performance Radio, KOKK, Huron:
On August 2nd 2011 at 11:30 AM a change of plea hearing was held in the case of Wessington Springs South Dakota School Superintendent Lance Witte. He agreed to plead guilty to driving with a revoked license in exchange for having the conviction withheld from his record.
When first learning of a trial date for the case, I made a standard (for me anyway) request of expanded coverage of the State V. Witte trial to the Third Judicial Circuit (Jerauld County).
I was then informed by e-mail from Judge David Gienapp that a plea had been reached and that the hearing was likely going to be done over Interactive Television (I-TV) so the parties would not have to drive to Wessington Springs for the court hearing. Judge Geinapp did allow my request but required me to be present with him when recording the hearing. He was stationed in Brookings and the attorneys were in Mitchell, so I made a trip to Brookings.
My experience with an I-TV set-up was very simple. You can not hook up directly to the system as any outlets are hard to find. I found the placing of a recorder near the speaker of the televison not only picked up good sound from whoever was off-site but from the judge as well. I used two recorders just to be safe with one pointed at the judge and the other at the TV monitor. From my experience with an I-TV set up, I would suggest placing a recorder with the mic facing away from the TV and toward the judge for the following reasons.
Most likely the judge will be facing the camera and the local monitor, which means the judge’s voice will be projecting toward the recorder. With the mic facing away from the TV speaker but still close to the TV you will be able to pick up good audio.
These are just some thoughts if you find yourself with a granted request but the court deciding to use the Interactive TV system. Also it’s almost easier because you don’t have to run wires to connect to a sound system, and the I-TV rooms are generally small enough that the sound quality can be used without problems.
You can listen to the sound bites at the KOKK website: http://bit.ly/pS2Tzk.