Georgia’s court transparency laws could catapult Donald Trump’s election interference trial into that highest of American statuses: television stardom.
But what that means for the pursuit of justice remains to be seen, especially since the last televised criminal trial to spark as much national interest was the murder trial of O.J. Simpson.
“No matter how hard you try, you’re still going to have some of that Simpson trial problem infecting this case,” former Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“It’s just inevitable.”
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ case against Trump is the only one involving the former president that's been filed in a jurisdiction that allows cameras in the courtroom.
And while Judge Scott McAfee has ruled to allow the trial to be televised, he’s also expressed hesitancy about being compared to the O.J. Simpson trial judge who was famously lampooned for playing up to the cameras, the outlet notes.
“I have no aspiration to become the next Judge Ito,” McAfee said to the New Yorker.
Steven Brill, a lawyer and journalist, argues a televised trial will provide valuable access to accurate information about the 2020 election, which many Americans still believe, despite evidence, was rigged.
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“I think that’s a way to restore trust, frankly,” Brill told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution podcast.
But Nick Akerman, a New York prosecutor with a history of taking mobsters to court, said he fears witnesses will clam up in front of the cameras.
“People are afraid to testify,” Akerman told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “They will wind up shading their testimony in relation to the fact that they know this is going out into the world.”
Akerman also raised concerns about Trump’s experience as the former host of a reality television show.
“He is an expert at playing to cameras,” Akerman said,
Porter, a Republican, agreed with Akerman, about what cameras in the courtroom will do for Trump’s case and his campaign.
“It sort of gives Donald Trump a hand grenade and a pin,” Porter said. “He certainly could set something off.”
