Anatomy of a Trial: Public Loss, Lessons Learned from The People vs. O.J. Simpson by Jerrianne
Hayslett
As the
Los Angeles Superior Court’s media liaison, Jerrianne Hayslett had
unprecedented access to the trial—and met with Judge Lance Ito daily—as she
attempted, sometimes unsuccessfully, to mediate between the court and members
of the media and to balance their interests. In Anatomy of a Trial, she
takes readers behind the scenes to shed new light on people and proceedings and
to show how the media and the trial participants changed the court-media
landscape to the detriment of the public’s understanding of the judicial
system.
Q: The Simpson trial remains a subject of national and international interest despite the
fact that it occurred eighteen years ago. What does Anatomy of a Trial
contribute to the discussion we are still having about the Simpson trial?
With the case embodying murder, money, mystery,
celebrity, sex, race, a sports legend, and grandstanding lawyers against a
Hollywood backdrop, Simpson became the hallmark for using the court as an
entertainment venue. Comparisons with and attempts to replicate the made-for-TV
Simpson phenomenon in subsequent trials with similar elements was and continues
to be inevitable.
Anatomy of a Trial, with its in-person,
behind-the-scenes observations and analysis, shows how everyone associated with
that case contributed to the soap opera that gripped the public for nearly a
year. The book includes ways the judiciary and the media can get through
high-profile situations without damage to their reputations or credibility.
Q: The public has not
been particularly sympathetic to Lance Ito since the trial’s beginning. Do you
think Ito’s public treatment was unwarranted?
The
public persona of Judge Ito is based almost entirely on television images,
interpretation of his actions and supposedly learned opinions. Anatomy of a Trial examines Ito the man, the judge and the media analyst behind the
black-robed TV portrait. My daily access to him and his understanding—and
miscalculation— of the media provides a view that in many respects challenges
the caricature captured in the box.
Q: How did Lance Ito’s personality and
judicial style shape not only the events of the trial, but also the perception
of those events?
Ito was selected as the Simpson-case judge
specifically because of his quick grasp and knowledge of the law and his calm,
deliberative courtroom demeanor. His judicial style is to give opposing sides
wide latitude in presenting their cases, but within the dictates of the law and
court rules. His style and manner is informed by his cultural heritage that
stresses respect and courtesy and he expected the attorneys and media in the
Simpson case to respond in kind. At the same time, he considered himself a
public servant conducting the people’s business and believed they had a right
to observe proceedings in his courtroom. When the Simpson case landed in his
court he was an experienced high-profile-trial judge and veteran of intense
media coverage. Although not oblivious to the gathering Simpson media storm, he
believed it would subside once the initial phase of the trial was under way. He
failed to recognize the tsunami it became until it inundated him and the court.
Q: The presence of the
media in the Simpson trial affected the public’s
perception of the proceedings in a profound way. What impact do you
think this continues to have on high-profile trials?
The imprint of Simpson on the judiciary and, to a
lesser extent, the media remains fresh and stinging. Many judges, to avoid
being pilloried and second-guessed, saw the need to maintain control, not just
of their courtrooms, but of how they are portrayed. They fear the unbridled and
voracious media appetite they saw unleashed in the Simpson trial and keep their
doors closed to camera coverage, if possible. That fear continues as court systems,
state legislatures, and other countries cite the Simpson trial in banning
cameras from their trial courts. As cases such as Terri Schiavo, Michael
Jackson, Scott Peterson, Martha Stewart and Casey Anthony have shown, the media
have done little to redeem or reform themselves.
Anatomy of a Trial argues that
the public became the ultimate loser
because of the Simpson-media excesses. The nonstop media punditry infused with
industry and individual-career promotion has left most people with poor
understanding between media access and media intrusion. The book also
includes examples of some judges
who defied the camera-ban trend, and discusses a medium that is making
courtroom cameras more acceptable to some members of the judiciary.
Q: Do you have any upcoming projects or books
readers can anticipate?
I keep current on key issues related to court-media
and high-profile-case issues, which I blog about frequently on my “Anatomy of aTrial” blog. I contribute articles and essays to court and law-related
publications and to general-interest media. I am also nearing completion of an
historical fiction manuscript of a multiple lynching in the Midwest more than
eighty years ago in which an African-American defendant has a far different
court outcome than O.J. Simpson did in 1995.
