This is the fourth and final podcast to be produced from the video of our presentation to the class in Evidence and Trial Practice at the CU Law School on October 25, 2006. In this episode I show and describe the entire World Trade Center trial presentation.
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CU Law School Presentation: Gary Freed, WTC Trial Graphics: Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadBetween 2002 and 2004 Z-Axis worked for the attorneys representing Silverstein Properties to help prove that the collapses of the twin towers resulting from the attacks on 9/11 were two occurrences under the terms of the property insurance policy. Z-Axis was part of the investigative team hired by Silverstein to provide engineering proof that the collapses were independent events. Our part of the forensic investigation was to use our 3D computer models of the towers and photogrammetric techniques to determine the speed and impact angle of the two airplanes into the towers. This podcast shows samples of the resulting animations, with discussion of how they were developed. In October of 2004, a New York jury unanimously decided in Silverstein’s favor, forcing the property insurance companies to pay for two occurrences.
As is our usual practice in this podcast series, the video we’ve built for you consists of excerpts from the original animations, with our own new explanatory voiceover. We do this because the animations used in trial are often quite long — sometimes hours — and usually have no audio track to tell you what’s going on. When they’re presented in court, of course, these animations are accompanied by the live testimony of an expert witness. We also think that you might find some explanation useful in understanding the animations and their significance both to the trial and to the history of animation in court.
In the late 1980s, Z-Axis produced this computer animated reconstruction of the crash of Delta flight 191 for the United States Department of Justice in the case of Connors v. The United States. The DOJ attorneys and their expert witnesses used these animations to defend the FAA and National Weather Service from accusations that these agencies were at fault in the crash. The defense was successful. The judge cited the animation in his decision that the fault for the crash lay entirely with the cockpit crew.
As is our usual practice in this podcast series, the video we’ve built for you consists of excerpts from the original animations, with our own new explanatory voiceover. We do this because the animations used in trial are often quite long — sometimes hours — and usually have no audio track to tell you what’s going on. When they’re presented in court, of course, these animations are accompanied by the live testimony of an expert witness. We also think that you might find some explanation useful in understanding the animations and their significance both to the trial and to the history of animation in court.
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Delta 191 (Connors v. The United States) [2:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (6907)
