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The chief judge of Hawaii’s federal court said Monday she will likely permit Civil Beat to live blog an upcoming human trafficking trial from inside the courtroom.

The comments from Chief U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway came in response to a formal letter from Civil Beat requesting permission to use a laptop during the Aloun Farms trial, which starts Wednesday.

This would be the first time the judge allowed media to use a laptop in her courtroom.

“I would only let one journalist do this because I cannot monitor an unlimited number of people,” Mollway said. “This one person would have to allow other media to use what was sent out of the courtroom to the public.”

Jeff Portnoy, an experienced First Amendment attorney in Honolulu, was surprised at the court’s inclination to allow a reporter to use a laptop.

“I think it’s a very positive step that Judge Mollway has taken to permit the media to cover the proceedings in her courtroom using modern technology,” he said. “I think reporters should be able to use 21st century equipment so long as it doesn’t disrupt proceedings. I hope this is the beginning of a trend that leads to a formal rule.”

He added: “I do know that it’s not common and in fact it may be rare for, in this district, non-attorneys to be permitted to use computers in a proceeding. It’s a significant accommodation.”

Brothers Mike and Alec Sou, owners of Aloun Farms, are accused of keeping 44 Thai immigrants as indentured laborers.

The trial, which starts Wednesday, is the first of two major human trafficking cases that will be tried in Hawaii federal court. Global Horizons, a Los Angeles-based labor contracting company, faces criminal charges separately in what prosecutors call the largest human trafficking case in U.S. history.

Presently, members of the public are not allowed to bring electronic devices into the federal courthouse.

Cell phones, PDAs and digital voice recorders must all be left with security in a metal filing cabinet on the ground floor. Even lawyers with cases before a federal judges have to seek permission to bring laptops or Blackberries into courtrooms.

In explaining her reasoning, Mollway cited the Scooter Libby case, tried in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia. In that trial, the judge allowed reporters to use laptops in the courtroom.

Mollway pointed out that her decision applies to this one case and does not reflect a courtwide policy. She also laid out several conditions for Civil Beat to follow.

• One reporter from Civil Beat will be permitted to write and transmit on an Internet connection from the courtroom, using a laptop computer.

• Everything transmitted from the courtroom will be available for other news organizations to use.

• Civil Beat will not take photographs or record any audio or video in the courtroom or courthouse.

• Civil Beat will make every effort to ensure that the laptop doesn’t become a distraction, including sitting at the back of the room and typing quietly, if necessary.

Prosecutors took issue with the judge’s inclination to grant the request, but defense attorneys had no complaints. “If the court is fine with it, so are we,” said Thomas Otake. “We want the public to hear” the case.

Tune back in on Wednesday. Civil Beat will be live-blogging the proceedings.