Court Reporter Ruins Transcripts By Repeatedly Typing “I Hate My Job”

    He decided to channel his inner “Shining”.

    Richard James
    by Richard James

    BuzzFeed News Reporter, UK

    Daniel Kochanski caused chaos in New York’s legal system when he repeatedly typed, “I hate my job, I hate my job” instead of recording the court proceedings.

    (Photo: AP/Haraz Ghanbar)

    The 43-year-old was fired after court officials in Manhattan discovered he had been typing nonsense into the transcripts of six trials and 24 other legal proceedings.

    The New York Post quoted a high-level source as saying Kochanski’s “gibberish” typing may have compromised some convictions.

    Among the botched transcripts was the 2010 mortgage-fraud trial of broker Aaron Hand, who was also convicted of trying to hire a hit man to murder a witness.

    The Post said a source familiar with the case claimed the transcripts from the trial were a “total mess”.

    The Shining / Via Warner Bros.

    “It should have been questions and answers — instead it was gibberish,” the source said.

    “He hit random keys or wrote, ‘I hate my job. I hate my job. I hate my job,’ over and over.”

    Kochanski was apparently arrested and fired in 2012, with the DA’s Office trying to force him to make sense of his typing but to no avail.

    I never typed gibberish. I always did my job 100 percent. I was let go because of substance abuse.I'm in recovery. July will be one year I'm clean.

    Reconstruction hearings are now taking place, with people involved in former cases trying to remember what was said in the original trials.

    "I never had a situation where a single court reporter was responsible for so much damage," said Claudia Trupp, of the Center for Appellate Litigation.