Counsel & Evidence

CounselCopy Anchor Link

Every case has real counsel (Cases → a case → Counsel): prosecutors, public defenders or private attorneys.

• The clerk (counselManage) adds and removes counsel.
• An attorney with an accepted retainer from the defendant or plaintiff joins by themselves (Config.Counsel.autoWithRetainer), otherwise the court approves the request.
• Each side can have up to Config.Counsel.maxPerSide counsel. The MDT shows their names.

ExhibitsCopy Anchor Link

Each side submits exhibits on the case's Evidence tab:

• photos and videos (https links on Config.Evidence.allowedHosts)
• printed court documents
• items from their pockets, handed in at a courthouse and moved into the evidence locker
• MDT records and kartik-evidence forensic cases (linkRecords)

Exhibits are numbered P-1 (prosecution), D-1 (defense) and C-1 (court). With discovery on, the other side sees them at once. A judge (evidenceRule) admits or excludes each exhibit, and every step is kept in a chain-of-custody log. Only admitted exhibits go on the courtroom TV.

SubpoenasCopy Anchor Link

Counsel ask for a department's records (police, EMS, fire) or a witness. A judge signs it (subpoenaSign), the department is served and answers in /subpoenas:

• The records custodian (custodianGrade of the department) picks records from the department's recent MDT reports and incidents, or objects with a reason.
• Produced records are linked to the MDT case and become exhibits of the side that asked.
• A subpoena naming one record is answered by itself once signed (autoComplyRecord).
• Overdue subpoenas are flagged to the judge: extend, quash or contempt.

Departments can also share a record with any open case without a subpoena; the judge still admits it.

MotionsCopy Anchor Link

Counsel file motions on a case; the judge grants or denies them (motionsRule):

Judges see everything waiting on them on the tablet's Home page.