---
title: "A Texas Court Is Holding The First-Ever Jury Trial Over Zoom"
description: "A Texas courtroom is experimenting with the videoconferencing software Zoom, which it's using to hold a jury trial this week."
date: "2020-05-19"
modified: "2020-05-19"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/texas-court-first-jury-trial-zoom"
categories:
  - "Future Society"
tags:
  - "coronavirus"
  - "jury"
  - "law"
  - "the digest"
---

# A Texas Court Is Holding The First-Ever Jury Trial Over Zoom

![A Texas courtroom is experimenting with the videoconferencing software Zoom, which it's using to hold a jury trial this week.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/texas-court-holding-jury-trial-zoom.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Judge Emily Miskel via YouTube\</em\>*

## Order!

A courtroom in Texas is holding what is believed to be the first [virtual trial](<https://futurism.com/virtual-reality-could-be-used-to-transport-jurors-to-a-crime-scene>) over the videoconferencing program Zoom. It's a real trial for a real case, but the court is also using it as an experiment about how to conduct legal proceedings during the pandemic.

The case, a dispute over insurance policy, was held in a condensed format on Monday, *[Reuters ](<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-courts-texas/texas-prepares-for-a-pandemic-first-a-jury-trial-by-zoom-idUSKBN22U1FE>)*[reports](<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-courts-texas/texas-prepares-for-a-pandemic-first-a-jury-trial-by-zoom-idUSKBN22U1FE>). The novelty of the situation revealed a number of issues that the legal system needs to sort out.

## Breakout Sessions

During the trial, Judge Emily Miskel frequently helped jurors with tech issues. In the jury selection part of the trial, which [Miskel uploaded to YouTube](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1XrO1nM7B8>), several potential jurors had trouble using Zoom.

Some jurors spoke without realizing they were muted, others needed help adjusting their displays, and some disconnected from the call — all glitches that Miskel had to stop the proceedings to fix.

## Brief Glimpse

The rest of the trial occurred behind closed doors, so it's unclear whether the tech hiccups continued. But, [*Gizmodo* reports](<https://gizmodo.com/texas-court-experimenting-with-its-first-zoom-jury-tria-1843519263>), the use of videoconferencing could lead to more problems down the road, especially regarding new forms of bias.

Jurors may decide someone with a home office is more credible than someone sitting in a small apartment, for instance — raising questions about how fair a videoconference trial really can be.

**READ MORE:** [Texas Court Experimenting With Its First Zoom Jury Trial](<https://gizmodo.com/texas-court-experimenting-with-its-first-zoom-jury-tria-1843519263>) \[*Gizmodo*\]

**More on virtual law:** *[Virtual Reality Could Be Used to “Transport” Jurors to a Crime Scene](<https://futurism.com/virtual-reality-could-be-used-to-transport-jurors-to-a-crime-scene>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)