News
Fall Journal Explores Media in Modern Trial Practice
11-22-2011
The influence of media on trial practice is the primary topic of the Fall 2011 issue of the The Reynolds Courts & Media Law Journal, available online here.
Articles in the issue focus on media and litigation and emerging developments in e-Practice. Famed death penalty defense attorney Andrea Lyon takes the media to task for sensational coverage by some media outlets of extremely high-profile criminal trials, such as the recent Casey Anthony murder case (in which Lyon was part of the defense team). Mark Kogan, meanwhile, examines the rise of public relations as an integral part of litigation strategies in many cases and explores what actions, if any, courts can take to ensure that such these strategies do not affect the verdict. And prosecutor Peter Crusco looks at a
specific type of external communication outside the courtroom: criminal defendants and heir attorneys and supporters setting up websites to solicit sympathy for their cases, and perhaps to intimidate investigators and witnesses.
In other articles in the issue, Steven Cerny and Daniel Dugan examine the use of technology in litigation in a different way: in the courtroom, as part of the parties’ trial presentations. Cerny, a litigator, explains how litigants can obtain social media information in discovery and authenticate it as evidence for presentation in court during trial. Dugan, a trial consultant, explores the psychology of juries and describes best practices for using modern technological tools to effectively present evidence and information at trial.
The journal, released at a conference in Santa Clara, Cal., is a publication of the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Courts and Media. The Center, a program of the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno that also is also affiliated with the National Judicial College, promotes research and scholarship on the interaction of the courts and the media, including conflicts between free speech rights under the First Amendment and fair trial rights under the Sixth Amendment.
