Rod Welch
440 Davis Court #1602
San Francisco, CA 94111-2496
415 781 5700




December 14, 2000

02 06 05 61 00121401




Hon. Wallace P. Douglas
Assistant Presiding Judge
Department 608
Superior Court of State of California
County of San Francisco
400 McAlister
San Francisco, CA 94102
..
Subject:   Rent Control Dispute
Juror #200310516

Dear Judge Douglas,

Sorry to have taken so long to follow up, but wanted to say how much I enjoyed your work, beginning on April 14, 2000, presiding in a case on rent control. It was a great pleasure to make a small contribution as an alternate juror under your supervision.
..
In particular, your courtesy deserves notice in stretching decorum to assess new methods by permitting the use of a notebook computer for a juror to take notes during trial. Below are notes of closing arguments, and your instructions to the jury. Similar notes were taken throughout trial. If you get a chance to look at this letter on line, you will notice that clicking on underlined entries opens relevant sections of the broader record. If cases had been cited, you could open them, as well, to verify accuracy. In 10 years, this will be a standardized practice, because it accomplishes the objective of law to maintain alignment with the record and precedent, and to bring enlightenment about contextual correlations and implications, which has its roots in religion, as explained in the New World Order... paper.
..
For example, the record of trial on April 14, 2000 shows initial concern about setting an objective standard for evaluating intent of the defendant, which sounds a lot like issues that confronted the Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore this past week. Additionally, as with the Bush case, it was a delight and satisfaction to observe high caliber advocates presenting their case, and arguing the client's cause, under your guidance in the rent control matter.
..
I may have mentioned that Douglas Engelbart is working on a project at SRI to expand use of technology for general purpose knowledge work. He recently received from President Clinton the nation's highest award for innovations in this field, based on original work in the 1960s. I am sure Doug would be pleased to know that his ideas are beginning to spread out from the laboratory to find practical use in your courtroom.
..
Again, thanks very much for your courtesy, and for outstanding trial management.

Sincerely,



Rod Welch
..
Post Script

This letter is submitted through the regular mail. You can also view it on the Internet to access the full record prepared during trial by opening the following URL....

http://www.welchco.com/02/06/05/61/00/12/1401.HTM ..
Copy to:
  1. Douglas Engelbart, Ph.D
    ..
  2. SRI Project Team, OHS/DKR