J 350F Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Stanford Law Review, Potter Stewart, Homicide
Document Summary
How did we get here: media interest and ability to cover the stories has evolved along with our society. Competition among media sources has spurred interest in crime coverage if it bleeds, it leads. As the means to cover crime and trials became available, and the incentive of competition made their use a business necessity, the conlict came to a head in the mid-20th century. Defendant irvin was charged with murder of one person in vanderburgh county, Although the court eventually seated 12 jurors who said they could be fair and impartial, 8 of them admitted that they assumed irvin was guilty before they heard any evidence. Irvin challenged his conviction alleging he was denied a fair trial by an impartial jury. With such an opinion permeating [the jurors"] minds, it would be di cult to say that each could exclude this preconception of guilt from his deliberations.
