Drop in quality?

"The recording system is supposed to be really good, but it's never as good as a live person," said 4th District Judge Samuel McVey.

Central Utah Reporting, a freelance cooperative Eaton established to help reporters find jobs, reviewed 47 Utah cases where a transcript was typed from a digital audio recording. The group found 345 "inaudibles" in 4,407 pages.

Maybe those missing words aren't important. But what if they are?

Diane Flanagan, official court reporter in 2nd District and immediate past president of the Utah Court Reporters Association, said she's worried about due process rights if there's only a digital recording used.

Although huge problems with missing words may be rare, "if it's your problem, it's a pretty big thing," Flanagan said.

Those are only the concerns in the courtroom. After the record is digitally gathered, someone has to type it.

Tom Means, head of the Utah County Public Defenders Association, is concerned that the reporter is now coming to the record cold, without having already heard it once in court.

Not only is that harder, but it takes two to three times longer to create a transcript, Flanagan says. But Annina Mitchell, solicitor general with the Utah Attorney General's Office, said she hasn't seen too many problems from digital-based transcripts.

"The machines are not as great or reliable as humans, obviously," she said. "But if you've got to cut, at least in (this) situation you (have) an alternative to get the work done." It just stings that after decades of training, Eaton's "alternative" is a small, electronic device.

"For me, it became personal when (officials were) quoted … saying they see no difference in my work and the audio," Eaton said. "That just isn't true. It's one thing to eliminate my position, it's another thing to say that about me on the way out."

E-mail: sisraelsen@desnews.com