When they were moot court partners at the University of Florida law school, Ashleigh and John Merchant probably didn't imagine the tricky issue they've faced together in real court: fighting for access to audio and video recordings from courtrooms.

In one Cobb County case, they received courtroom video and heard a judge apparently discussing the state's strategy in presenting witnesses, without defense lawyers present. At one point, he told prosecutors, “Well, hopefully this jury does the right thing. Had some unusual cases lately.”

Their request for more videos, which were made by the sheriff's department, led to an open records fight. They've also taken a case about courtroom audiotapes to the Georgia Supreme Court, which ruled last month that the husband-and-wife team should have appealed the order denying their request to copy the recordings instead of filing a mandamus action against a Douglas County judge and his court reporter.