Michigan State Appellate Defender Office Upgrades Audio and Video Review Workflow with Reduct.Video

About The Michigan State Appellate Defender Office

The Michigan State Appellate Defender Office (SADO) is dedicated to fighting injustice by providing access, advocacy, compassion, and education to indigent individuals appealing their criminal convictions.

SADO is structured around three core divisions:

Public Defender Division
Private Counsel Division
Criminal Defense Resource Center

The challenge

The investigators, attorneys and paralegals at SADO need to review voluminous footage in the form of body-worn camera recordings, jail call recordings, and police interviews to identify potential errors, constitutional violations, or overlooked evidence for appeals.

Tabitha Harris, an assistant defender at the Michigan SADO, noted

“

We've got, a lot of times, a lot of videos that we need to go through. And it's time-consuming.

Investigator Angie Jackson gave us an example:

"We have a very large case file to review, and there are probably a few dozen videos in it. Some of them are an hour, hour and a half long.

We have to review that file, and I've been dreading all the videos, and trying to review those in a way that can make sense if we’re looking at this case a year from now. [I’ll want to know,]'Okay, here's the spot in the video that's really relevant to our case, and here's what’s important.'"

With footage piling up fast, the Michigan SADO sought evidence management software to navigate the mountains of footage and save time - which is when they found us.

Reduct.Video integration

The team at the Michigan SADO can now:

Get machine-generated transcripts of audio and video footage in minutes, with an option for overnight human review

Quickly skim over the irrelevant discovery—long periods of silence, off-topic comments, or police officers making small talk—to get to important evidence

Search for keywords or phrases to get to the exact moment in the footage

Annotate key evidence for quick reference when coming back to a case

SADO’s Director, Marilena David, saw Reduct as a way to help her team be more efficient and to lighten up the heavy load of video review that is now common in most cases.

Marilena David

Director

Reduct is a reliable and innovative tool that helps alleviate some of those pressures..

Marilena David, Director

Testimonial red quote AI and computer software have changed the practice of law. Whether we’re ready for that change or not. Public defenders do difficult work under immense resource and time constraints. Reduct is a reliable and innovative tool that helps alleviate some of those pressures.

Welcome, Michigan State Appellate Defender Office

Thank you for trusting us to support your important work. We’re proud to be a part of your mission!