From the
The Battle Creek Enquirer:
From his bench in Battle Creek, Calhoun County District Judge John Holmes administered the oath to a witness Tuesday in Lansing. And then to one in Willow Grove, Pa., 670 miles away.
For more than three hours, four witnesses from the Michigan State Police crime lab in Lansing and
NMS Labs in Pennsylvania were displayed on a screen in the courtroom as prosecutors and defense attorneys questioned them about work done in the murder case.
A pathologist already has testified that the two victims died from high doses of prescription drugs, and a laboratory supervisor testified that those drugs were found in the bodies.
But defense attorneys Lesley Kranenberg and Justin McCarthy objected, arguing that testimony from the supervisor was hearsay because he did not do the actual testing.
Holmes agreed and said the lab technicians should testify.
Prosecutor Susan Mladenoff said because several tests were run -- and a few re-run at both labs -- that as many as two dozen people would have to testify.
Calling all those people would be expensive and could shut down portions of the lab if they all had to appear at once, she told Holmes.
So for the first time, an Internet conferencing system was set up in the courtroom with the agreement of both sides. (The defendant) had to waive his right to confront witnesses in person.
Mladenoff and Assistant Prosecutor David Heiss, who organized the technical setup, said it's the first time a similar system has been used.
Mladenoff said the system saved the county thousands of dollars in travel costs alone from Pennsylvania.