Kaufman DWI Videos 2.0

As long as I have been practicing criminal law I have been watching DWI videos. As a prosecutor in East Texas DWI videos were on VHS tapes. This was very inconvenient for trial. I had to write down the time stamp for each scene I wanted, while noting all any objectionable material (defendant’s criminal history blaring over the police radio) etc. I spent time at trial awkwardly fast forwarding, reversing, pausing etc. Very cumbersome, those old VHS tapes.

In Kaufman County DWI videos are on DVD. Not a great technological leap forward from VHS. A DVD has a better picture, and is more convenient to browse. However, a DVD offers no more information than a VHS tape.

AVD Viewer-
Today I received a DWI DVD from the Kaufman District Attorney. It was an incar video from the Terrell Police. It looked like all the other DWI DVDs I usually receive. However, when I loaded the disc into my work computer a new program opened up. I usually watch DVDs on Power DVD. This disc opened up in AVD Viewer, a program by L3 Communications.

AVD viewer is a real leap forward. For starters it has a panel of “triggers” that tell you when the police are hitting the brakes in the car, or when the emergency lights are on, inter alia. AVD also allow me to choose which microphone to listen in on. For example- I could listen to the in car mic, or the officer’s personal microphone. It also allows the user to pick between different police car views.

The disc also includes a chain of custody page where I can see who logged the video into evidence. My only gripe is that the program seems a little buggy. It will freeze up on me more than I like. As a DWI defense lawyer I prefer even a buggy DVD that contains more information. Overeall AVD is not a Star Trek leap forward in technology, but a good start.

Chet Walters says:

March 18, 2008 at 7:59 pm

With my experience with terrell videos…they are a pain in the ass. However, I do like all the features offered compared to other counties…

W. W Woodward says:

March 18, 2008 at 8:48 pm

I’m seeing and hearing of more and more instances of the video being preserved but the audio being conveniently “lost” on traffic stops. I’m beginning to wonder if police depts and DPS are being shortchanged by substandard equipment.

Robert Guest says:

March 18, 2008 at 9:01 pm

Audio being “lost” is not always the problem. Usually the wind/cheap mics make the audio unintelligible.

Of course even with perfect audio officers will testify that the defendant had slurred speech, even though you can’t hear it on the tape.

Jenny says:

March 19, 2008 at 9:51 am

Have you figured out a way to increase the size of the video while keeping the controls (the mic. options and pause/play etc. feature) on an AVD /L3 video? Maybe i’m easily confused but every time I try to make those any bigger than the 3×3 screen that pops up, all my controls disappear. Which makes it even more difficult to see the nonexistent sway/stagger.

Brian says:

March 20, 2008 at 2:09 pm

Anyone know how these videos can be converted to .avi or .mpg video? Can’t seem to find a converting tool anywhere.

March 20, 2008 at 7:27 pm

Jenny/Brian. I can’t solve those problems. If a Google search doesn’t turn up the answer, then I can’t find it.

Samara says:

June 26, 2008 at 11:33 pm

Hey Robert great blog you have here. I’ve recently encountered the AVD Viewer application while helping a neighbor clear up a computer problem she was having related to it. Just out of pure geek curiosity I was wondering if you have found a solution to being able to convert the footage from the CD-R to any other format that can burn to a DVD. And even if so, wouldn’t that be breaking the law or something if she used a version of the footage that was some homemade, stitched together version?

I’m guessing she’ll just have to request the DVD version since she isn’t really computer literate OR patient enough to access it via her computer.