Just curious, if you had wanted to read the actual transcript of the trial, would they have allowed that?
And at the end of each witness testimony, we were each allowed to write a question if we had one, and the bailiff would take it to the judge. I was the only person who wrote a question. Early on I figured it was a killing over a drug deal and asked if that was what this was about. They all went to judges chambers a few minutes, and when they returned the judge said my question would be answered by a different witness... which it was.
During the Simpson trial, we discovered that court reporters retain the rights to their transcripts and are free to sell them. Our discussion group contacted them, and they agreed to license them to our group for a relatively small amount of money. We had flash transcripts overnight every trial day.
In trial, you can have the transcript read back to you, but probably wouldn’t be given it because you’re supposed to rely on your memory, and also because the reporter knows what goes in the areas she hasn’t had the time to review and clean up yet.