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How Publicity May Affect Different Parties In A Criminal Trial

17 April 2015 by Kenneth Pierce

Some criminal trials seem to attract more attention than others. Parties in highly publicized cases may have to contend with lots of media attention, with reporters asking for interviews and snapping their pictures all the time. Unfortunately, the effects of pretrial publicity may go beyond the bother experienced by these parties. Here are three parties that may be affected by such publicity:

The Jury

Pretrial publicity may affect jurors, possible more than other parties because they are ordinary members of the public who are trained to deal with it. This effect can occur in different ways; for example:

• The more popular media paint a suspect as guilty (for example by detailing his or her life of crime), the more the jury is likely to believe (perhaps in subconsciously) in his or her guilt. This is due to the cumulative effect of negative information.
• The publicity may introduce jurors to inadmissible evidence that they would not have seen/heard in court. This may influence their decisions.
• Pretrial publicity often includes hearsay, truths, lies and half-truths. By the time trial ends, especially for lengthy cases, the jurors may not be able to differentiate between what they heard in court and what they read online.

Eyewitnesses

Pretrial publicity may affect eye witnesses in many different ways. For example:

• Safety – witnesses to violent crimes may be reluctant to testify in highly publicized cases since they may fear retaliation.

• Memory – eyewitnesses' memories are fickle. Different things such as anxiety and leading questions can interfere with memory. Add to this mixture out-of-court narratives and images, and a witness's memory truly gets confused.
• Limelight effect – if cameras are used in the courtroom, witnesses not used to the limelight might be tempted to embellish their testimony in order to look or appear "cool" in front of the camera.

The Police

Even the police officers connected to a case may be immune to publicity. In an ideal world, police officers would be above such things, but they are mere humans affected by human frailties. For example, an elected police chief out to "make his or her name" would be tempted to pursue a popular course of action instead of using the law and the facts at hand to make all the decisions.

Fortunately, seasoned trial lawyers understand all these influences too well. Your lawyer will know what to do to counteract these negative effects and protect your legal rights. However, you may be severely disadvantaged if you are representing yourself. To learn more about hiring an attorney, contact the experts at Eric Schurman, Attorney at Law. 

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