Courtroom Technology

Please review the information below, if you have any questions regarding the use of courtroom technology, please contact the court’s Help Desk at (415) 268-2349 or e-mail helpdesk@canb.uscourts.gov.

Training can also be arranged if requested.

All currently installed equipment such as monitors and microphones should not be moved without assistance.  Do not remove or change pre-existing cables.  Do not bring in outside equipment such as projectors or video splitters without first contacting the IT Office for further guidance and instruction.

Sound Systems

All courtrooms are equipped with state-of-the-art sound systems that include:

  • Full room-wide public address (PA) system
  • Microphones at lecterns, counsel tables and witness box
  • Audio inputs at counsel tables
  • Hearing impaired infrared headphones
  • Teleconferencing
  • 4-channel digital audio recording

Electronic Evidence Presentation Systems (EEPS)

Some of the courtrooms are wired for evidence presentation.  These courtrooms are equipped with:

  • Dedicated evidence-presentation monitors at the bench, courtroom deputy station.
  • Annotation monitors in the witness box and lectern.
  • Monitor(s) for viewing evidence from the gallery.
  • Video inputs: Standard male cable connections for VGA "DE-15", or HDMI "Type A" or both (see table below) at counsel tables and lectern.
  • Audio inputs at counsel tables and lectern.

Please consult with the courtroom deputy regarding the availability of specific equipment in each courtroom.  Counsel must be prepared to provide their own evidence presentation equipment, and to provide back-up equipment in the event of equipment malfunction.

Judge Lafferty’s Courtroom Deputy is Ratnesh Singh. He may be contacted at (510) 879-3533, or by email at Ratnesh_Singh@canb.uscourts.gov.

Judge Novack's Courtroom Deputy is Ruby Bautista. She may be contacted at (510) 879-3529, or by email at Ruby_Bautista@canb.uscourts.gov.

Judge Johnson’s Courtroom Deputy is Anna Lee. She may be contacted at 408-278-7515, or by email at Anna_E_Lee@canb.uscourts.gov.

Judge Hammond’s Courtroom Deputy is Anna Rosales. She may be contacted at (408) 278-7581, or by email at Anna_rosales@canb.uscourts.gov.

Judge Montali’s Courtroom Deputy is Lorena Parada. She may be contacted at (415) 268-2323, or by e-mail at Lorena_Parada@canb.uscourts.gov.

Judge Blumenstiel’s Courtroom Deputy is Cecilia Malabanan. She may be contacted at (415) 268-2312, or by e-mail at Cecilia_Malabanan@canb.uscourts.gov.

Connecting a computer, laptop, or iPad/iPhone to the evidence presentation system.

The court highly recommends that counsel be familiar with their equipment and fully test prior to using anything in the courtroom.  Please test the audio and video outputs of your equipment at your office or home by connecting to external headphones, a monitor, or projector if possible, and schedule a visit in the courtroom to test everything before the proceeding.

  1. Connect the provided VGA cable or HDMI cable to your equipment's video port.  (Fig. 1)

     
  2. Connect the audio cable plug into the laptop's headphone jack, which is usually marked with a headset icon.  HDMI connections do not need the audio connected separately, as HDMI includes both audio and video. (Fig. 2)

     
  3. Turn laptop on last. 
    For VGA courtrooms, your laptop display resolution must be set to 1024 x 768. (Fig. 3)

     
  4. The Courtroom Deputy will select your table to test that your laptop is projecting to the court’s monitors properly. 

If your laptop display does not appear on the courtroom screens:

  1. Use the laptop keys to toggle the external display – usually by pressing and holding the "Fn" key down, then momentarily pressing the Display Key.  The Display Key is usually the F8 or F5 key, or whichever key is marked with "VGA/LCD" or a monitor logo.  As you press the Display Key again, most laptops will cycle between displaying on the laptop screen, then the external screen, then both.

    Please note that the display/monitor key may vary by manufacturer, so check your owner's manual.

  2. Check that the video cable is securely connected to the device's video output port.
  3. For VGA courtrooms, the screen resolution must be set to 1024 x 768.  No other resolution is compatible.

Notes Regarding Video Connectors

As indicated above, for inputs to the system, courtrooms have male connector cables for VGA "DE-15" , or HDMI "Type A", or both.  The court will not provide any additional adapters, cables, etc.  Counsel must provide anything additional needed in order to connect their equipment to the court's systems.

Notes for Apple Devices (MacBook, iMac, iPad, iPhone, iPod, etc.)

Apple devices require an inexpensive and readily available adapter to connect to court systems.

Older iOS devices with 30-pin connectors (iPhone 4, iPad 2 and below) need an Apple 30-pin Digital AV Adapter, such as the ones available from Apple, Amazon and elsewhere.

Newer iOS devices with "Lightning" connectors (iPhone 5 and above, iPad Air and above and iPad Mini) need a Lightning Digital AV Adapter, such as the ones available from Apple, Amazon and elsewhere.

Current MacBooks with USB-C need a USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter such as this one from Apple.

Current iMac, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro with Thunderbolt 2/Mini DisplayPort need a Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter, such as this one available from Apple.