by Carolyn Coronado
 | Please meet superstar reporter, Jennifer Slessinger, official court reporter for the 230th District Court of Harris County, Texas. Here lately, though, she’s been known as “the reporter for the Andrea Yates trial.” Jennifer’s been reporting since June of 1975 and has been on HCRA’s board as treasurer and was also president-elect in 1995. But due to her mother’s illness, she could not fulfill the obligations as president. |
Jennifer has been involved in the community as a court reporter by conducting annual court tours to schoolchildren involved in the Peer Dispute Resolution Program. She enjoys being involved in the community by volunteering at nursing homes, the VFW, Boy and Girl Scouts; and she’s president of the Trinicria Club (an Italian-American Club).
For Jennifer, her family comes first, though. Yes, even during a high-profiled capital murder case such as the Yates trial. Her daughter recently gave her a framed letter thanking her for always making the family number one. Her father was in the military, and she says coming from a military background has helped her keep her priorities in order. She is a very confident reporter and believes this job should never be stressful.
She’s reported 17 capital murder cases, and says the Yates trial was one of the most fascinating trials of her career. This case is still pending so she is not able to talk about the facts of the case, but here is what Jennifer had to say about her experience in reporting the Yates trial.
“Court reporting has always been a fun job for me, but knowing every day I would learn new technical procedures in the field of psychiatry and neurology and getting to meet some of the pioneers in this field made me look forward to being there every day.
“Each day I would introduce myself to the expert witnesses so that I could get a feel for their voice. This has always helped me. It was especially helpful in this case since I knew that I would be hearing a lot of terminology usually not testified to in a criminal case. Two of the witnesses I talked to told me they had spoken at state conventions for court reporters; and that by being a speaker they learned to slow down, speak loudly, and to spell difficult and unusual terms and names. I learned they had a great deal of respect for our profession. Not only was their testimony educational, but also they were my two best witnesses. This was the first time I had ever used my real-time capabilities; and believe it or not, I was very surprised at how – if I must say so myself – good I was at it. All those seminars about ‘just plug in the computer and go’ really were right. I real-timed the whole trial, which helped with a few overnight requests. With the help of another court reporter, we always met our deadline.
“I have always said that our skill is what sets us apart from other professions, and part of our skill is being able to read back from the paper notes. It fascinates people. And, of course, being from the old school, anytime there was a request for readback, I did so from my paper notes; and I will continue this process. But being able to see what my paper notes look like as a finished product is a good feeling also.”
Jennifer has seen the respect for the court reporting profession dwindle within the court environment over the years, and her goal is to devise a plan to regain that respect. We at HCRA commend Jennifer for her efforts and wish her success in achieving her goal.
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