A judge in Florida has allowed a virtual reality simulation to be submitted as evidence during a case over aggravated assault in 2023, according to a local TV news station in Ft. Lauderdale. And it might be the first time the defense in any criminal court hearing in the country has been permitted to introduce VR into evidence.
Miguel Albisu owns a wedding venue in Florida and was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly waving a gun at guests during an altercation. Albisu’s wife and son were allegedly attacked at the venue, with his wife sustaining an injury to her wrist, and Albisu was called to the scene.
The question is whether Albisu’s decision to threaten those at the venue with a gun was a valid form of self-defense under Florida’s Stand-Your-Ground laws.
The defense attorney in the case, Ken Padowitz, commissioned an artist to concoct a simulation of the incident for the Oculus Quest 2 and Broward County Judge Andrew Siegel will allow it to be introduced at trial. The idea is to give everyone in the courtroom the defendant’s perspective.
“We put headsets on the judge, the prosecutors, and the witness and the judge was able to see from my client’s own eyes, from his own perspective, what he faced when he was surrounded by intoxicated partygoers,” Padowitz told WPLG. “They grabbed him, and he felt at that point in time he needed to pull out his weapon to defend his own life and his property.”
News station Local10 in Florida even aired video from the courtroom in December showing the judge and others in court watching the animation.
This isn’t the first time an animated simulation has been introduced at trial, just the apparent first using virtual reality. Padowitz takes credit for being the first to see animation upheld as evidence in a criminal case back when he was a prosecutor in 1992.
“Since that time, we have evolved to this point where our abilities far exceed what we did in 1992,” Padowitz told WPLG. “So, what we are doing here today is not only did we show the judge a computer animation of what occurred prior to my client having to pull out that gun in self-defense for his life, but we also showed it in a virtual reality.”
The admittance of the VR simulation was allowed during a pre-trial hearing before a judge who will determine if the case is dismissed or goes to a jury trial. If it does go to trial, court proceedings are expected to resume in February.
