Court Reporter Sues Criminal Lawyer for Defamation Over Altered-Transcript Claim

submitted by Martha Hutchings

A Pennsylvania lawyer has so far been unsuccessful in his efforts to obtain an audiotape and other original materials that he contends would help prove his claim that transcripts of his client's Washington County murder trial were altered. So attorney Noah Geary is now pursuing an appeal of adverse superior court rulings with the state's highest court.

Meanwhile, he is facing a defamation case filed by the stenographer who, he alleged, made changes at the direction of the judge who presided over the murder trial, according to the Observer-Reporter.

Geary has previously contended that court reporter Toni DiNardo herself told him that President Judge Debbie O'Dell Seneca ordered her to alter the transcript of a sentencing hearing for his client, Gerald Szakal, as an earlier Observer-Reporter editorial details.

She says in her defamation suit that she has suffered damage to her professional reputation and emotional distress because of Geary's false and malicious claims, which she alleges he made without appropriate investigation. DiNardo lives in Pittsburgh and has filed suit in Allegheny County.

Geary contends objections and motions for a mistrial he made during Szakal's murder trial were either omitted or moved to a different point in the proceeding in the transcript, according to the Valley Independent.

Maybe My Password Isn't As Strong As I Thought It Was

Submitted by Bill Jimenez, Hutchings I.T. Director

Hutchings Court Reporters recognizes that having strong passwords is an essential component to computer and Internet security.The old line of thought of having a mixture of alphanumeric and special characters make up your password has been shown to be not as strong, or as easy to remember, as stringing several words together. Use at least four random words and use them in a manner that makes sense to you in order to easily remember them.

For years, we in the computer industry, have been telling people to create cryptic passwords that include upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. We’ve been saying that if you replace certain characters with others, such as @ instead of “a”, or 3 instead of “E”, or ! instead of l, that chances of getting your password stolen are remote. Well, it would be remote, but with today’s technology, someone trying to break that password would have it figured out in 3 days with 1000 guesses/second, which is probably faster than you trying to remember what the password actually is.

Hutchings' 2012 Perpetual Calendars Now Available

The much-loved Hutchings Calendar is here.  Download it now.  Or ask for a hard copy to be sent to your office.   Hutchings' self-adhesive computer monitor/keyboard calendars are also available.  Office deliveries to begin last week of September.

Beware of "Juice-Jacking" - Security for Your Smartphone

Submitted by Bill Jimenez, Hutchings IT Director

Hutchings Court Reporters recognizes that travel could be a large part of an attorney's agenda. Many times during traveling, it's easy to use the services that are available when needed, especially when you're on a call, or need to make a call, and realize that the battery on your device is running low. This article offers pertinent insight into making you aware of the dangers of doing so as to avoid your data from being stolen.

You’re out and about, and your smartphone’s battery is about to die. Maybe you’re at an airport, hotel, or shopping mall. You don’t have the power cable needed to charge the device, but you do have a USB cord that can supply the needed juice. Then you spot an oasis: A free charging kiosk. Do you hesitate before connecting your phone to this unknown device that could be configured to read most of the data on your phone, and perhaps even upload malware?  Read more -- www.krebsonsecurity.com