JONES, WYATT & ROBERTS
PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL MEMORANDUM
ATTORNEY WORK PRODUCT  ATTORNEY/CLIENT COMMUNICATIONS


TO:		STEPHEN JONES, ROB NIGH, DICK BURR, JERRI MERRITT & BOB WYATT

FROM:	ROBERT WARREN

SUBJECT:	VIDEO TAPE ANALYSIS

DATE:	JULY 9, 1996


As everyone is aware, we presently have a large number of surveillance video tapes which we must attempt to examine in a thorough and effective manner.  Due to the large number of video tapes that we need to watch and analyze, it is quite clear that this is going to be a very time consuming task.  To date, we have encountered several main obstacles to an effective examination and analysis of our video tapes that we have received through discovery:  (1) lack of adequate equipment; 2) lack of time; 3) lack of a plan for thorough examination of the video tapes.  
As we are all well aware, the VCR that we presently have in the office is unsatisfactory for viewing of the discovery video tapes.  Recently while at Cliff's Camera Store, I had a conversation with one of the men who works with Cliff's Video Equipment.  He showed me a very impressive JVC VCR which cost about $800.  I had brought with me a sample of a video tape which is typical of the surveillance videos that we have.  The problems encountered on this video tape could be described as poor picture quality and a shifting from one surveillance camera to the next at a very high rate of speed.  We played this video tape in the VCR at Cliff's and I found that the difference in both picture quality and controllability of the images between our office VCR and the VCR that Cliff's Camera Store is selling is like comparing night and day.  When I say controllability, I mean that the VCR at Cliff's gives the viewer the capability to advance the video tape frame by frame allowing each individual image to be viewed.  The movement of the video tape can be controlled with a remote control which has a wheel or knob on it which allows the user to advance, reverse, or pause the video tape at any desired position.  When you watch a video tape with this VCR and this remote control the advancement of the tape is truly controlled by the viewer.   
While at Cliff's I was also shown a color printer which plugs into the VCR and is able to make color prints similar in appearance to photographs from a video image.  This printer costs approximately $900.  While not as needed as the VCR, I suspect that this printer could be a helpful addition to our proposed video equipment.  Finally, we would need a high quality television.  Cliff's sells the new high definition televisions which afford more clarity on the same size television.  Once again, these televisions like the other video equipment described above are not cheap, however, they may be necessary and one can be obtained for approximately  $500 to $700.  Of the three pieces of equipment described above, acquisition of the VCR is of course the most pressing.
I asked the employee at Cliff's what the next step up in quality VCRs was after the JVC model that he showed me and I was informed that the next grade of VCRs are approximately 10 times as expensive as the model that I was shown.  This may be true, however, we don't know this and I think we need to learn more about VCRs generally before we decide to purchase one from Cliff's.  If we have access to such high quality machines so close to our office, one wonders what else might be on the market.
I am in receipt of the professional Vitae of Tom Owen, Owl Investigations, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2300, New York, New York.  Mr. Owen has also provided us with several articles he has written concerning video authentication and video tape evidence generally, along with his rates and/or fees.  In Mr. Owen's price list, he advertises that among the services we would be interested in, he specializes in voice identification, authentication (video or audio), and tape enhancement.  His rates are not cheap, with a voice identification charge being quoted as $2,000 for one known and one unknown, authentication at $3,000 per tape and tape enhancement at $200 per hour.  Mr. Owen does not purport to be a watcher of video tapes, but rather a specialist in examining the physical tape itself.  
Owl Investigations may come highly recommended, however, after reviewing Mr. Owens' professional Vitae, I am not yet entirely convinced that Owl Investigations is the right company for the job.  I believe that further investigation is warranted before we use their services.  I have also discussed my concerns with Jerri Merritt and we are going to try to meet with at least one other video expert during our trip to New York City for comparison purposes.
With regard to retaining Owl Investigations, Inc., we must consider what they can do for us.  It seems that the most likely tasks that we may ask them to perform for us would be authentication of a video tape, or a video tape enhancement.  We will also look into possibly having them slow down the surveillance videos.  We presently have approximately 500 video tapes which must be reviewed and we have not yet identified all, if any, video tapes which we may wish to have enhanced or authenticated.  
I would propose the following plan in order to handle the large amount of video materials that we do have.  
Go to New York City and meet with Owl Investigations, Inc.  We can bring some of our more problematic video tapes with us and Mr. Owen can demonstrate to us what his machines can do.  If we are able to personally observe his laboratory, we should be able to get a better feel as to whether we would like to depend on Mr. Owen as a video expert.  Additionally, as it is quite clear that we do need to obtain at least one high quality VCR, we may be able to learn from Mr. Owen what would be a suitable VCR to purchase.
We must purchase at least one high quality VCR.
We must prioritize which videos must be watched first and then begin to review them on one or more high quality VCRs.  We need to have people reviewing the tapes who know what they are looking for and when they are looking for it.
After we have reviewed all of the video tapes, we will likely have selected several video tapes which we would either like to have enhanced if possible and we may want to have one or more video tapes authenticated (it is likely that the government would like to introduce the video tape from the Regency Towers which purportedly contains an image of a Ryder truck).  We may want to challenge this video tape and it would be necessary to retain the services of a video expert in order to do so.
After we have selected any tapes which we feel must be enhanced/authenticated by a video expert, we can send them to the appropriate expert.  At that point in time after conducting a thorough examination of all of our video tapes ourselves, we should have located a video expert whom we feel comfortable with.  By the time we may need videos enhanced/authenticated, it is likely that we will have had at least some of the videos placed in a "real time" format.  This business with one or more video experts will then have given us a better idea as to who we would like to use for critical enhancement or authentication.
Michael Grote has been doing some research on video software and a video card for our computer.  While Michael Grote is more qualified to discuss the exact details of this computer equipment, and in fact he will be addressing this issue in a separate memo, the basic idea is that a video tape is played in a VCR, the VCR is connected to the computer, and the video tape image appears on the computer monitor.  According to Michael Grote, the software program would allow some video enhancement capabilities for our computer.  Additionally, the software would allow us to print images from the video tape with the computer's printer.  While I think that this could be a useful tool, this does not negate our need for a high quality VCR.  Without a good VCR which would allow us to get everything possible out of the video tape that we can, the computer assistance would not be helpful.  I am sure that a $250.00 computer chip is not the equal of an entire video lab, however, the chip might be useful in helping us to determine whether we would like to have a particular video professionally enhanced.   For whatever good the computer can do, the computer cannot make crystal clear images out of poor video recordings that are run through a low quality VCR.  We need to give the computer all the assistance we can if we are going to use that system.  
As has already been stated, we have an extremely large amount of video tapes to review.  This will be a very time consuming task and I would recommend that we purchase at least one high quality VCR very soon.  The sooner we get started on this task, the better.  To illustrate this point, we must consider the fact that we have approximately 500 video tapes from discovery to watch.  At 2 hours per tape, we wold have 1,000 hours of viewing to do.  One thousand hours, however, grossly underestimates our task.  Approximately 300 of our video tapes are surveillance videos.  These videos must be watched frame by frame with frequent pausing.  This pausing greatly increases the time that must be spent on each video.  While it is unclear exactly how much time needs to be spent to view and analyze all of the tapes, it is clear that the time required will be substantial and we need to get moving.
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