1989-03-24 Comments of Star Tribune.pdf - Minnesota Judicial Branch

5. The positioning of the cameras in this instance was
excellent. It was out of the peripheral vision of the
witness and not distracting. You were only aware of the
camera when initially taking the stand. The only suggestion
I have is that once the rule is invoked, there should be a
remote room for the witnesses, not in the hall where the
portable T.V. equipment is located.
6. In regard to having media coverage of the trial, I
personnally feel it is against my constitutional rights, due
to the fact that the defendant, and possibly the entire
nation, may view his accuser while the entire city of Las
Vegas may not. Just the fact of having the equipment in the
courtroom made me nervous, and I feel that the defense
lawyer, knowing he was on T.V., and the fact that I was
nervous could have gotten me confused in my statements and
made me look bad on local television. This makes me think
that I’m being tried and not the subject (the defendant that
started this mess). The media coverage also takes away most
of my concentration to answer the questions prop’erly and I
feel anything that disrupts a testimony is not beneficial to
either the plaintiff or the defendant or for the court
system. Just for your information, I thought the other
witnesses were not allowed to hear each other’s testimony,
but with the media monitoring the courtroom, you could hear
everything that was being said from outside of the
courtroom. If I hadn’t said anything to the assistant
district attorney, who moved us from the monitoring area,
and if the defense lawyer had found out about this, he might
have gotten his client off on a technicality.
7. The witness exclusion rule was more or less nulified by
monitors in the hall.
8. I have used the system in court for coroner’s inquest and it
possibly .has limited, if any, effect upon either myself or
the proceedings.
9. I believe the news media should not photograph officers who
testify.
10. I was already nervous enough. The broadcasting,
photographing, televising or newspaper coverage only added
to my nervousness. I had to watch what I said during the
trial for fear it might go public, I would rather none of
the media be present to protect myself as a witness.
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