Courtroom Technology
Sound Systems
All courtrooms are equipped with state-of-the-art sound systems which include:
- Full room-wide public address (PA) system
- Wireless microphone for jury selection
- Hearing impaired/interpreter infrared headphones
- Jury masking system for sidebar conferences
- Teleconferencing
- Realtime translation court reporter transcript distributor
Evidence Presentation
Some of the courtrooms are wired for evidence-presentation. For traditional courtrooms, attorneys may either reserve one of the court's portable media carts equipped with evidence presentation equipment or provide their own equipment. See the charts on this page for details regarding a particular courtroom.
Evidence-Presentation-Ready ("Wired") Courtrooms
These courtrooms are equipped with:
- Dedicated evidence-presentation monitors at the bench, counsel tables and jury box
- An annotation monitor in the witness box
- Two large flat-screen monitors for viewing evidence from the gallery
- Additional laptop inputs at counsel tables
- Click here for info on how to use the evidence-presentation system.
Traditional Courtrooms
Traditional courtrooms (those that are not yet wired for evidence presentation) do not have dedicated evidence-presentation monitors at the bench, counsel tables, jury box or witness stand. In San Francisco and Oakland, counsel may contact the courtroom deputy to reserve one of the court's portable media carts. These include:
- Document camera
- Microphone usable with the courtroom public address system
- Audio and video inputs for laptop-based presentations
- Annotation monitor (displays the image from the laptop or camera, and allows annotation of the image)
- DVD/CD player
- VHS player
Counsel must be prepared to provide their own evidence presentation equipment if they are not able to reserve a portable media cart and to provide back-up equipment in the event of equipment malfunction.
| Courtroom | Judge | Wired |
|---|---|---|
| Courtroom A · 15th Floor | Mag. Judge Nathanael Cousins | No |
| Courtroom B · 15th Floor | Chief Mag. Judge Maria-Elena James | No |
| Courtroom C · 15th Floor | Mag. Judge Laurel Beeler | No |
| Courtroom D · 15th Floor | As Assigned | No |
| Courtroom E · 15th Floor | Mag. Judge Elizabeth D. Laporte | No |
| Courtroom F · 15th Floor | Mag. Judge Jaqueline Scott Corley | No |
| Courtroom G · 15th Floor | Mag. Judge Joseph C. Spero | No |
| Courtroom 1 · 17th Floor | Sr. Dist. Judge Samuel Conti | Yes |
| Courtroom 2 · 17th Floor | Sr. Dist. Judge Thelton E. Henderson | No |
| Courtroom 3 · 17th Floor | Dist. Judge Richard Seeborg | Yes |
| Courtroom 4 · 17th Floor | As Assigned | Yes |
| Courtroom 5 · 17th Floor | Dist. Judge Edward M. Chen | Yes |
| Courtroom 6 · 17th Floor | Sr. Dist. Judge Charles R. Breyer | Yes |
| Courtroom 14 · 18th Floor | As Assigned | No |
| Courtroom 15 · 18th Floor | Sr. Dist. Judge Marilyn Hall Patel | Yes |
| Courtroom 7 · 19th Floor | Sr. Dist. Judge Maxine M. Chesney | Yes |
| Courtroom 8 · 19th Floor | Dist. Judge William H. Alsup | Yes |
| Courtroom 9 · 19th Floor | Dist. Judge Jon S. Tigar | No |
| Courtroom 10 · 19th Floor | Dist. Judge Susan Illston | Yes |
| Courtroom 11 · 19th Floor | Dist. Judge Jeffrey S. White | Yes |
| Courtroom 12 · 19th Floor | Sr. Dist. Judge Thelton E. Henderson | Yes |
| Ceremonial · 19th Floor | As Assigned | No |
| Courtroom | Judge | Wired |
|---|---|---|
| Courtroom 1 · 5th Floor | As Assigned | Yes |
| Courtroom 2 · 5th Floor | Mag. Judge Howard R. Lloyd | No |
| Courtroom 3 · 5th Floor | As Assigned | No |
| Courtroom 4 · 5th Floor | Dist. Judge Edward J. Davila | No |
| Courtroom 5 · 4th Floor | Mag. Judge Paul S. Grewal | No |
| Courtroom 6 · 4th Floor | Sr. Judge Ronald M. Whyte | No |
| Courtroom 7 · 4th Floor | Sr. Judge D. Lowell Jensen | No |
| Courtroom 8 · 4th Floor | Dist. Judge Lucy H. Koh | No |
| Courtroom | Judge | Wired |
|---|---|---|
| Courtroom 1 · 4th Floor | Sr. Dist. Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong | No |
| Courtroom 2 · 4th Floor | Chief Dist. Judge Claudia Wilken | Yes |
| Courtroom 3 · 3rd Floor | Dist. Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton | No |
| Courtroom 4 · 3rd Floor | Mag. Judge Donna M. Ryu & Mag. Judge Kandis A. Westmore | No |
| Courtroom 5 · 2nd Floor | Dist. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers | Yes |
Connecting a laptop to the evidence presentation system.
It is always good practice to be familiar with, and to fully test, all equipment prior to using it in the courtroom, so please test the audio and video outputs of your equipment at your office or home.
- Connect the provided 15-pin VGA cable at the counsel table to your laptop's VGA port.
PLEASE NOTE: The court can only provide a VGA connection. If you need DVI, HDMI or any other type of video connection, you must provide your own adapter. - Connect the audio cable plug into the laptop's headphone jack (usually marked with a headset icon).
- Turn laptop on last, then make sure your laptop display resolution is set to
1024 x 768. - 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:
- 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.- Check that the VGA cable is securely connected to the laptop’s VGA port.
- Your laptop screen resolution must be set to 1024 x 768. No other resolution is compatible.
