By Peter Funt, long-time host of “Candid Camera | East Valley Tribune
George Zimmerman’s trial seemed to raise as many questions as it answered, but one thing was proved convincingly: television in courtrooms can have damaging effects.
The jury had barely been seated when observers wondered why defense attorney Don West opened with a tasteless “knock-knock” joke. Would he have tried such a ploy if he weren’t playing to a national television audience?
Florida was among the first states to permit televised trials, beginning in 1979.
