A court reporter's mistake could set a convicted killer free. If you're interested in becoming a court stenographer, make sure you get the best training available.

Because of a mistake by a court reporter in Florida, a convicted killer is set free and the institution of professional stenography is under attack. The story, which the Miami Herald first broke January 1, punctuates the need for highly skilled – and prepared – court reporters in Florida and nationwide.

In late December, an appeals court was forced to throw out the conviction and life sentence of Randy Chaviano, convicted in 2009 of fatally shooting a man who came to his apartment complex to buy drugs. Chaviano’s attorney argued that the shooting was in self defense. But the jury didn’t buy it and convicted the 26-year-old of second degree murder with a weapon and armed drug dealing. As expected, Chaviano appealed. But no one expected what happened next.

Court reporter Terlesa Cowart apparently had a habit of showing up to court without a sufficient supply of the rolls of paper used in stenograph machines. This meant that she failed to get an on-paper transcript of the court proceedings. She did capture the data from her stenography machine’s memory disc, transferred it to her laptop computer, then erased it from the disc. Unfortunately for everyone involved, Cowart’s laptop was hit with a virus that wiped out all notes, including most of the data from the Chaviano case. Only one key pretrial hearing and the closing arguments could be retrieved. As a result, the judge had no choice but to overturn the conviction and allow Chaviano a new case.

“The overturning of a murder conviction always means terrible pain for the victim’s family and frustration for prosecutors and police officers,” Miami-Dade State Attorney’s spokesman Ed Griffith told journalists. “Overturning a murder conviction because of a court reporter’s problem creates a brand new level of pain and frustration.”

Though some are using the story to advocate ditching the use of live court reporters in favor of audio and video equipment, legal industry experts argue that it actually highlights the need for better trained and more highly compensated court reporters. Florida’s Stenotype Institute agrees and has built a reputation as one of the nation’s top court reporting schools certified by the National Court Reporters Association.

“While the mistake of the court reporter in this case is both unfortunate and inexcusable, it is news in part because such mistakes by court reporters are so rare,” says NCRA President R. Douglas Friend. “If courts are interested in preventing such egregious errors, the worst thing they could do would be to install audio recording systems as a replacement for court reporters.”

If you’re interested in becoming a court reporter, Florida’s Stenotype Institute should be your next stop. The state’s oldest court reporting school also is one of the nation’s most respected and boasts a job placement rate of 95 percent over the past 10 years. Enroll online or request an information kit today.