- Joined
- Dec 28, 2014
Actually by law there has to be a transcript of every court session. So there is an official word by word recount of the court sessions and it's available to any citizen of the U.S. for a nominal fee of $45.
No there doesn't, and that in fact doesn't happen. The vast majority of court hearings occur with only an audio recording and sometimes not even that. It's not all that uncommon even when a recording is kept for it to be nearly useless and half inaudible.
The main reason a transcript is made is if the matter is subject to an appeal, when a transcript is useful because it can be cited by page and line number in briefs and such.
It's especially unlikely for transcripts to be made of routine procedural events like mass arraignments where virtually nothing of substance even happens.
A plea of guilty is usually at least going to be recorded, because it's the official record of the actual important event in resolving the case, but that recording is going to be kept for as long as legally required and possibly not much longer than that. I'd be surprised if even a recording of Chris's old case still exists.
But you have to go to the courthouse itself and use your ID to request the copy.
Actually, if you want a hearing that isn't transcribed, you'll have to pay to have the original transcript made, not just for a copy. Subsequent people only have to pay for a copy.
ETA: Also where's that $45 figure from? No transcript that doesn't already exist is going to cost anything near that cheap.