European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 10, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday october 10, 1994 commentary the stars and stripes Page 13is to coverage of . Trial essential easy to sympathize with judge Lance Ito Sim unplug television coverage of the . Simpson Tom Teepen it is pulse to murder trial. The Media performance has been characterized As a circus a term unfair Only inasmuch As it misrepresents circuses. Most would need a few More elephants and a lot More clowns to sustain the comparison.  a a a Ito has very few Topis for discipline and As tempting As the one he a looking at must seem the fact remains that it Isnit appropriate. Ending courtroom to coverage would be like changing a Good tire to fix a bad engine a. Problem. Or problems for there Are several Here. One is the very idea itself of a the  there is no such Critter. That a a term of convenience not a description. Declaring a Monolith where none exists invites sweeping but aimless reactions such As the one Ito is pondering. The new York times and the supermarket tabloids Are All newspapers but then St. Francis and Jeffrey Dahmer Are both human beings. V there is no sensible comparison to be made Between the usually careful and proportioned reporting of serious newspapers and the Nicole had Prince Charles love baby silliness of the tabs. There Are As Well inherent differences Between newspapers and to coverage a the needs and Capaci lies of the two Are often distinct a and there a wide variation within television itself. While tabloid television works the sensationalist . Fringes without bothering Over details or context most to coverage Aims to be responsible even if it is sometimes excessive. A / -.  what the court to Cable Channel and can will make of the courtroom to feed will be very different from what the talk shows and Tel tabs will do with clips from it. Ito a All of us really is suffering three major annoyances in this matter. There a Only one Ito can do much about. A a a the sheer crush of reporters and the awesome array of to Materiel Are at Best unsightly and in action often unseemly. It but this is a huge news Story like it or not. It will be hugely attended and there is no Way to limit that. Put that Issue aside As an admitted aesthetic affront but beyond  does the judge have the authority to punish much less to prevent the inevitable occasional inaccurate report. Or a More often the Case a the report that is accurate As far As it can go at the time but fails to the attrial h. Auriol vow stand up fully. What the judge can do and need not hesitate to do is Issue firm orders to the prosecutors police and defense team to Stop talking to anyone a press too a about matters not yet on record. The attempts of the two sides to play one up Manship is the Mother lode of the canted hurried and otherwise dubious reporting. Least of All should Ito Black out the courtroom. That coverage has been the clearest least emotional most detailed and most accurate of All. Just about everything that has bothered the judge has happened outside the courtroom television beyond his reach. Spiking courtroom to cameras  even be a be of throwing out the baby with the Bath water. It the baby and keeping the Case ing would be like the Bath water. Rowing out c Cox nows  circus recalls 1954 Sheppard Case As the Case against . Simpson moves closer to trial let me renew a prediction i voiced in july . Will walk free. And the ghost of or. Sam Sheppard will walk with him. Simpson has two opportunities to avoid a prison sentence. The first Wilt come at trial. If the jury finds him guilty his second Chance will come on Appeal. Several Points ought to be kept in mind. The first is that Simpson has no obligation to prove his innocence. It is up to the state to prove his guilt. The prosecution must introduce evidence sufficient to convince every juror beyond a reasonable doubt that Simpson stabbed his sex wife and her companion to death. This promises to be a very Tough  prosecution has no bloody knife no eyewitness no Confederate who might testify. Some of the states evidence is circumstantial Simpson hypothetically had a window of time in which to commit the murders. V some evidence goes to Simpson s character his threats to his wife. Most of she evidence is forensic the Matching of Dan in samples oxblood. A will this be enough to convince the jurors every juror i gravely doubt it but let us suppose that the jury does return a verdict of guilty. Simpson of course appeals. Now we get to the part that lawyers love. Defense counsel will Challenge the James j. Kilpatrick admission of any evidence taken from Simpsons House on the night of the slay inst the police had no warrant. They acted under the doctrine of a exigent  it is Likely that the officers justification will be upheld to a Point but a Large Quot body of fourth amendment Law suggests that beyond that Point the search was constitutionally impermissible. _ defense counsel will continue to mount a furious argument against the admission of Dan evidence. Simpsons lawyers will Challenge the adequacy of the blood samples the handling of the samples the expert testimony of statistical probability if the Simpson Case does reach the California supreme court on Appeal or if the Case gets into Federal courts on a constitutional Point watch for the ghost of or Sam Sheppard to return. And watch for . To walk. Forty years have passed since Marilyn Sheppard the wife of a suburban Cleveland Osteopath was bludgeoned to death in their Lakeside Home. She w As pregnant at the time. Or. Sam Page Stab pleaded his innocence. The Media went wild. A front of Story disclosed that blood tests had Estal listed that the killer washed off a Trail of blood from the murder bedroom. No such evidence was disclosed at trial. The Media revealed in stories of or. Same a extramarital affairs. Lothario adulterer throughout the summer of 1954, broadcasters and editors Bel bored the a Story. By december five Large volumes had been filled with clippings. All three Cleveland papers published the names of prospective jurors. Swarms of reporters and photographers clamoured for seats in the courtroom. Outside to cameras and microphones greeted witnesses and court personnel. The trial judge put virtually no restraints on coverage. The jury was never sequestered. During the nine weeks of the trial the jurors were constantly exposed to Media bombardment. Reporters questioned bystanders on or. Same a guilt or innocence. One radio station conducted a debate. A when the jury visited the Sheppard Home one of the papers rented a helicopter to photograph the Parade. Enough. You will find the whole bizarre Story in Sheppard is. Maxwell vol. 384, of the supreme court reports. The jury found Sheppard guilty. He languished in jail until june 1966, when the supreme court set him free. The pervasive and unchecked coverage. By the Media said the court had created a carnival atmosphere. The effect was to deny or. Sam the a judicial serenity and Calm to which he was entitled. The trial judge had failed to control a flood of leaks from both sides. Much of the published information was inaccurate. Much of it never went to the jury. / a a a in sum the judge had failed to protect Sheppard and the jury from a the inherently prejudicial publicity which saturated Ine Community a the High court granted or. Sam a new trial. On the second time around a jury acquitted him does the Story sound familiar pretrial publicity in the Simpson Case has passed a saturation Point. Judge Lance Ito belatedly is talking of gag orders and bans on television in the courtroom. You can bet that . Simpsons lawyers Are compiling scrapbooks Day by Day. Cd Universal press Syndicate. The opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this Page represent those of the authors and Are in no Way to be considered As representing the views of the stars and stripes or the United states government