CHAPTER 3 COURT REPORTING

Court reporting is an old and honored profession. It is an endeavor you may be proud of because it serves a definite need. Wherever prominent people speak, a reporter is close by recording their words for dissemination to the public and for posterity. Whenever a general court-martial (GCM) or a special court-martial (SPCM) is sitting, a court reporter is recording the proceedings of that court-martial. This is done to preserve an account of what occurred on that day. You paint a complete picture of the proceeding by your finished product, the record of trial. The reviewer, staff judge advocate (SJA), convening authority (CA), the Navy and Marine Corps Court of Military Review (NMCMR), and the Court of Military Appeals (COMA) rely solely upon your record of trial to arrive at their decisions. Our motto as reporters is The Record Never Forgets.

Probably the most important duty you perform as an LN is to serve as a court reporter. As a court reporter, you must record and transcribe various types of proceedings and then place the transcription of these proceedings into the proper format. The most common types of proceedings you will record and transcribe include courts-martial, Article 32 pretrial investigations, courts of inquiry, Manual of the Judge Advocate General (JAGMAN) investigations as directed, and depositions. In this chapter you will become familiar with the general qualifications, duties, and functions of the court reporter. You also will become familiar with the different methods used in court reporting, administrative requirements, and standardized transcribing techniques. In addition you will examine these basic functions and duties along with some helpful hints and suggestions that will assist you as you perform your duties as a court reporter.

FUNCTIONS OF THE COURT REPORTER

The primary function of a court reporter is to record all proceedings verbatim (word for word) and then transcribe what has been recorded into the proper format for that particular proceeding. The court reporter is also responsible for performing several related administrative functions before, during, and after each proceeding. Many times these additional functions will include such duties as scheduling and preparing the courtroom, preparing requests for witnesses, preparing and distributing posttrial documents, and preparing confinement orders. Some of these duties are addressed in this chapter and the remainder are addressed in chapter 6, Pretrial Matters.

Before looking at the general duties of the court reporter, let's take a brief look at the issue of appointment and detailing of court reporters.

APPOINTMENT AND DETAILING OF REPORTERS

Article 28, Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), provides, in part, that "Under such regulations as the Secretary concerned may prescribe, the CA of a court-martial, military commission, or court of inquiry will detail or employ qualified reporters, who shall record the proceedings of and testimony taken before that court or commission."

The Rules for Courts-Martial (R.C.M.)

405(d)(3)(B), Manual for Courts-Martial (MCM), 1984, provides, in part, that "The commander who directed the pretrial investigation may also, as a matter of discretion, detail or request an appropriate authority to detail a reporter."

R.C.M. 501(c) provides, in part, that "Reporters may be detailed or employed as appropriate but need not be detailed by the CA personally." The CA may direct that a reporter not be used in an SPCM. Regulations of the Secretary concerned may also require or restrict the use of reporters in SPCMs.

A bad-conduct discharge (BCD) may not be adjudged by an SPCM unless a verbatim record of the proceedings and testimony was made.

Reporters are not detailed to an SPCM to take a verbatim record unless the SPCM is convenwd by (1) an officer exercising general court-martial jurisdiction (OEGCMJ) or (2) a GCM CA who is granted the authorization. Reporters are not detailed to summary courts-martial (SCM).

Normally the commanding officer (CO) of the naval legal service office (NLSO) directs the employment of reporters.

R.C.M. 502(e), MCM, 1984, refers to the qualifications of reporters and provides, in part, that "The qualifications of reporters may be prescribed by the Secretary concerned. No person shall act as reporter in any case in which that person is, or has been, in the same case (1) the accuser, (2) a witness, (3) an investigating officer, (4) counsel for any party, or (5) a member of the court-martial or of any earlier court-martial of which the trial is a rehearing, new, or other trial."