Opinion ID: 1654119
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Trial Court's Failure to Pre-Screen Segments of Videotaped Deposition Testimony Played for the Jury During Closing Argument was a Harmless Error.

Text: Morgan contends that the trial court erred by permitting portions of a physician's videotaped deposition testimony to be displayed to the jury during closing argument without first conducting a hearing. [27] Although we urge trial courts to conduct hearings before exposing such matters to the jury, we decline to hold that the lack of a hearing is, standing alone, reversible error. We agree with a previous ruling of the Court of Appeals that there is no blanket prohibition against counsel playing selected portions of a videotaped deposition for a jury during closing argument. [28] But our opinion should not be misconstrued as holding that a trial court must invariably permit such segments to be displayed to the jury during closing argument. [29] Instead, we hold only that the trial courts of the Commonwealth have discretion to permit, or to refuse, the replaying of videotape segments in closing argument. [30] If a trial court exercises its discretion to permit the usage of segments of videotapes during closing argument, we emphasize that the trial judges must scrupulously control their playing by ensuring that the segments presented to the jury are not overly lengthy, do not overly emphasize one party's case, and are not a misrepresentation of the witness' testimony. [31] We also agree with a New Jersey court's wise pronouncement that a trial court should give a cautionary instruction, preferably at the time the video is played during summation.... The judge should inform the jury that attorneys are permitted to show the video to assist in displaying what they consider significant testimony, but it is the jury's function and obligation to determine the facts based on its recollection of all of the evidence, including both direct and cross-examination of all witnesses, and jurors should not place any extra emphasis on portions of testimony played back. [32] Moreover, if a trial court permits video segments to be played to a jury during closing argument, we agree with another New Jersey court's holding that a trial court out of the jury's presence, should therefore view the proposed portions of the videotape testimony in open court on the record to make sure that it accurately reflects the evidence. [33] This prophylactic hearing should ensure that the trial court exercises proper control over counsel's proposed use of snippets of video testimony during closing argument, thereby best ensuring that closing argument does not devolve into a contest to determine which side employed the best videographers or editors. [34] Although there was discussion in this case between the trial court and counsel on this issue, all parties seem to agree that the trial court did not personally view the snippets the Scotts' counsel planned to use during closing argument before permitting counsel to display those video snippets to the jury. The trial court's failure to view the snippets before permitting counsel to display them to the jury was an error. Since we are constrained to disregard any error or defect in the proceeding which does not affect the substantial rights of the parties[,] [35] we must now determine whether that error was harmless. Morgan does not contend that the video snippets played to the jury during the Scotts' closing arguments contained any substantive problems (such as being too lengthy or misrepresenting the doctor's complete testimony). Instead, Morgan's sole argument on this issue is that the trial court committed reversible error by failing to view the snippets before allowing the Scotts' counsel to display them to the jury. In the absence of even an allegation of substantive prejudice to Morgan from the contents of the snippets played to the jury, we conclude that the trial court's procedural failure to screen the snippets for itself before permitting them to be played for the jury was a harmless error.