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Winning trial by computer
Tempe firm helps convict ex-Klansman
Bob Golfen
The Arizona Republic
May. 5,
2001
A Scottsdale software company this week helped nail a
former Klu Klux Klan member in the 1963 Alabama church bombing
that killed four Black girls.
A unique database developed by winForce Technology
Inc. helped the U.S. Attorney's Office in Birmingham organize
the enormous amount of evidence, testimony and historical data
that helped convict Thomas Blanton Jr., 62, Tuesday in the
bombing of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham.
The bombing was the nation's deadliest single act of
violence during the civil-rights era.
The database, called winForce for electronic case
investigations database, was created by company founder John
Stevens, a former senior assistant U.S. attorney for Arizona.
He developed it as a tool for prosecuting his own complex
cases.
"In 1985, my first case in Washington (D.C.) on the
court side was a massive racketeering case, and we had rooms
filled with stuff we had to go through," Stevens said. "When
we finally got convictions, it had eaten up a year of my life
and a year in the lives of my colleagues. I said there has to
be a better way."
Stevens, 49, said he began learning the ropes of
computer programming when laptops became available for
courtroom use.
"I literally taught myself database design and
programming," he said. "It was a case of enlightened
self-interest."
winForce is designed to not only store and organize all
the data needed in a criminal case, but also to continuously
update the material with courtroom notes, interviews and
testimony. In the courtroom, a single laptop can take the
place of legal assistants running back and forth with
documents.
"Lawyers are constantly looking for stuff, and it
drives them crazy," Stevens said. "With winForce, everything is
at their fingertips."
Bill Smith, litigation support specialist for the U.S.
attorney in northern Alabama, said winForce's software was
essential in sorting through nearly 11,000 pages of evidence,
some of which was 38 years old.
"I can't imagine how you would do it manually," said
Smith, who discovered the winForce software before the trial at
a U.S. Justice Department demonstration.
The winForce software is under consideration for use
nationwide by the Justice Department, he said.
For presenting evidence to the jury during trial, Smith
said his office relied on the "sanctions" software produced by
another Arizona company, Tempe-based, Verdict Systems.
Stevens said that to make his program available to
prosecutors around the country, he had to quit the U.S.
Attorney's Office to avoid a conflict of interest. He opened
winForce about a year ago, along with his partner, Jimmy
Wood, who is now chief operations officer.
winForce is about to market a related database for
use by attorneys in civil cases, according to Eric Jones, vice
president of business development for winForce.
Stevens said that the use of winForce in the Alabama
hate-crime case is especially gratifying.
"I feel very proud," Stevens said. "It's the highest
purpose to assist in bringing someone like that to justice."
Reach the reporter at bob.golfen@arizonarepublic.com
or call (602) 444.8106.
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