News Scrapbook 1981-1982

!CEMBER 16, 198.1

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TV-RADIO/THE ARTS/PAGE D-1

The Sm Diego Union ,roev Dc>Jlei< Robert Simmons, right, het1d of Video Communi- ct1tions, goes over some videotaped wills with technicit1n Lenn Good- side.

The use of videotilpe hils finJlly come of ilge, Silys Dilve Miirkhilm, ii locill ilttorney who uses videotilpe ex- tensively in his prilclice ilnd believes it will make legal chilllenges to wills vir- tually impossible lo win. 'Nothing in lilw is ever airtight. Bui things willgo much better if the judge has il video-

tape of the testillor in front of him fillking ilbout the fine points of the will ilnd otherpersonill Jffairs in a coherent mJnner.' Videotape: Putting Legal Issues In Focus

By FRANK GREEN Sluff Writer, The San Diego Un,on George S., an elderly La ,Jolla resident in failing health had decided to di inherit ht daughter in his will. Iii attorney feared that the daught r would challenge the n,o~ when he died - as heh d threatened to do rn the _pa:;t on the baSJ of dumm 'd mental cap 1ty So a two-hour videotape was made at the man's hum showing the ~harp-witted gentleman walking around talking about ht family and telling the reasons whv h~ had decided to exclude his daughter from inheriting his substantial estate. Stella M, a 55-year-old bedridden diabetic on the ver e of drath, wanted to make sure that following her death ome out-of-town relatives would not contest her decisio~ to omit them from her will followmg her death. An hour- long v1_deotape Y.as made at her bedside to prove that she Y.as still in full po:; ess10n of her mental faculties at the I.me the will was written. In~rea ingly, people _in the process of drawing up their wills are making certain that thetr voices will be heard with authority from beyond the grave. And they a1 e using videotape to do it, meffect, insuring

tha! the property they leave behind will be dispersed to their heirs the way they want. The of videotape has finally come of age '•in a coru;ervat1ve profess10n that 1. usually 10 to 20 vears beh nd the level of available technology." said have 'darkham, a local attorney "ho uses videotape extensive- ]} ID his practice farkham believes that using videotape as a supple- ment to wnttea will. 1s a "fantastic concept" that will ~ak~. legal challenges to wills virtually impossible to w m. Nothing rn law 1s ever airtight," he stressed. "But things will g_o much better if the judge has a videotape of the testator m front of him talking about the fine points of the will and_ other personal affairs in a coherent manner." M1ltoa Milk~s. San Diego County's only probate judge ha yet to preside over a case involving a videotaped wili ?fter nearly three years on the probate bench. But he said hat a supplemental videotape C'Ould have a "decisive 1~pact" on the outcome of how a will is executed. Ia the normal scheme of things, we·re not dealing with contested wills, !\hikes noted. "But I could see some great benefits from videotape 1f a will was challenged·• Local attorneys point out that videotaped wills - ·al- though very popular ID some Eastern states -- are still in

the incubation period in San Diego. At Video Communications, which has been operating for less than two months, only four probate attorneys have opted to have their clients videotaped "We're slowly building,'' said l'mventy ol San Diego law professor Robert Simmons, owner of the firm the only_ company m town formed specifically to offer Hdeo services to attorneys. Probate counselors who have decided on the videotape conce~t for their clients "have all had the same reasons, ' said Simmons, who is blind. "They all felt that in the cases of their clients there might be the possib!lity of challenges to the_ wills from_ close relatives upset at being cut out of the wills, or havmg thetr respective shares of property reduced or excluded in the wills." By having a client videotaped, he continued an attor- ney "can illustrate graphically that the testator' was men- taHy competent and physically competent at the time the will was drawn up, and that the testator was not working under any undue pressure by an attorney or some third person." The 54-year-old Simmons. a trim man with a wave of (Continued on D-8, Col. 1)

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D-8

THE SAN DIEGO UNION

Wednesday, December 16, 1981

Vi eotape Focuses On The Law

deotaping of personal injury claims. The firm recently made a four-hour tape at a hospital of a man who had been seriously injured in an auto acci- dent. "The tape showed bow much he had been impaired The use of videotape has been ac- cepted in California courts since Jan- uary 1981 when the state Supreme Court amended the California Code of Civil Procedure. by the accident," Simmons said. ''He was able to perform only the simplest of motor tasks." The use of videotape in nearly all court litigation start- ed 10 years ago in Ohio and spread within a year to

Michigan and Pennsylvania, Simmons said, adding that there are now only a few holdout states. Simmo_ns _expects vidC? technology will soon be put to use m cnmmal prosecultons, in the taping of confessions of persons ,accused of crimes, and even as a training tool for recently-graduated attorneys. "Videotape equipment will someday be as common- place_ m an attorney's office as the electric typewriter,'' he said. Chanukah Party For Singles Slated

Simmons said that one reason for its acceptance is that videotape is virtually tamperproof. ."In the past, someone c~uld take a videotape and snip a piece off here and add a piece there," he said. Now, altering a taped will is next to impossible because of the relatively recent introduction of a "visual index me~haaism," which marks the seconds that go by with a d1g1tal clock that is imprinted in the upper right hand corn~r o_f the ta~. "Any attempt to tamper with the tape, and 1t will be obvious because the time on the tape will be off," Simmons said. "And tape makes a positive I.D., whereas just an audio tape is susceptible to tampering." The fee for the service in the studio is $65 an hour - $130 minimum - with additional costs for travel. Sim- mons said that Video Communications is also branching out into other areas of law, including the videotaping of legal depositions from outside of the county and the vi-

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~ay in h ' hair, said that videotape equipment is espe- cially u·eful m probate cases because it is so portable. "Usually, thC51: cases involve elderly people, some of whom are bedridden," he said. la the case of George S., for instance, the firm's video technician had to ftlm the man at his La Jolla home because he was unable to make trips outside his home due to his advanced age. ''We set up the equipment there and had hi attorney ask him the typical questions," Simmons said, "such as who are you, where do you live, who are your family members and what does your property con- sist of?" Additionally, the use of videotape has been accepted in California courts since January 1981 when the state Su- preme Court amended the California Code of Civil Proce- dure.

AChanulcah party for sin- gles will be held Saturday, Dec. 26, at Temple Beth Is- rael, 2512 3rd St., at the cor- ner of Laurel, in the Social Hall. The event, co-spon- sored by Congregation Beth El Singles of La Jolla and Echad Jewish Singles of Temple Beth Israel, is open

to all singles ages 21 plus. Doors will open at 8 p.m. Entertainment will in- clude music, dancing and a sing-a-long. Those who wish may bring games to play. Latkes with sour cream and apple sauce will be served, as well as pastries, coffee and tea and snacks.

SAN DIEGO UNION

Friday, December 18. 1981 Toreros Back In Victory Column After Visit From Bethel first time - senior forward Paul Appleby

"USD's defensive pressure was too much. Their guards hounded the ball and the three guys in back covered all the options." "Defensively, we played a strong game," said Brovelli. Bethel didn't break into double figures until the game was nearly 17 minutes old and trailed 50-19 with 11 ½ minutes to play before running off eight straight points. The Pilots rarely got the ball inside against the Toreros and came away with just 15 rebounds. No USD starter played more than 28 minutes and Brovelli employed everyone available, including freshmen Anthony Reuss ("He's going to be another Bob Bar- tholomew) and Jon Freeman and - for the

with 12 minutes to go and played it flaw- lessly." Bethel is an NAIA team that last year placed second in the National Christian College Athletics Association and set an Indiana record with 27 wins in a season. The Pilots came into last night's game with a 9-0 record against the likes of Fort Wayne Bible, Concordia Lutheran and IUPU-Fort Wayne. And Bethel ran a patterned offense that rivaled USD's own passing game. Trouble was, Bethel was totally overwhelmed phys- ically. "That is a good lesson for us," said Bethel Coach Homer Drew, who quizzed Brovelli after the game about USD's 2-3 zone defense.

By BILL CENTER Stoff Writer, The Son Dif90 Union

(who lost his first two seasons with the Toreros by twice fracturing a kneecap). Rusty Whitmarsh led the Toreros with 16 points and Gerald .Jones scored 11. Ten Toreros scored. No Bethel player broke into double figures. The contest was the first of four the Toreros - as a NCAA Division I team - are allowed to play against non-Division I competition. They will host No. 17-raaked NAIA power Illionis Wesleyan Saturday and Fresno-Pacific and Nebraska Wesley- an next month. USD deserves some breaks, though. Their West Coast Athletic Conference is developing into the toughest in the west with USF and St. Mary's still unbeaten.

After losing back-to-back contests against two of the West Coast's better bas- ketball teams (San Diego State and UC- Irviae), the University of San Diego last night stepped down a class to step its record up to 4-2. The Toreros dominated Bethel College 68-34 at Alcala Park. But it was not that close; or that far apart. "Had that club ever gotten ahead of us, we'd have been in serious trouble," said USD Coach Jim Brovelli. "Bethel was very well organized, very disciplined. Our scout- ing report on them made mention of a game where they went into a four corners