Lights, camera ... mute button

The pros and cons of moving the justice system into the 21st Century have been summed up neatly by the appearance of two defendants, one after the other.

The pair, Glenn Desmond Bendall and Arthur Joe Henare, appeared in the Levin District Court yesterday.

The court was sitting in Palmerston North due to strengthening work happening at the Levin courthouse.

Both defendants were in custody and appeared by audio-visual link [AVL].

While all defendants have the right to appear in person, the links had been used extensively by courts since coronavirus restrictions came in.

Bendall was the first to appear, representing himself after defence lawyer Penelope Walker was given permission to withdraw by Judge Bruce Northwood.

Bendall started his address to the judge by talking about the technology being used. ‘‘Doing this AVL and responding via the phoneline, I’m having real trouble.

‘‘Usually I get to talk to a lawyer at court then go from there.’’

He then went on to make a bail application, the details of which cannot be reported for legal reasons.

The judge appeared to get annoyed at Bendall at one stage, who continuously spoke over him while he was delivering his decision declining bail, but found a good workaround – the mute button.

Things were not any easier once Henare appeared on the screen.

‘‘The picture isn’t working,’’ he said after a few confused looks at the camera.

‘‘I can hear you, but I can’t see anything. It’s just black.’’

The judge did not want to continue – ‘‘you have a right to see what is happening’’ – while a Corrections officer at the prison entered Henare’s booth to try to figure it out.

The issue was solved through a tried and true method of turning the link off and on again.

The pair were both remanded in custody until next month.