Press reports are wrong.
Ito feels numbed and disturbed.
What is the outcome?
9/22/94
Same day KNBC’s Tracie Savage’s reporting about DNA test results on O.J. Simpson’s bloody socks came up in court, Ito lamented about what he perceived as irresponsible behavior by some of the media covering the Simpson case. Here from notes I took that day is what I recorded him saying:
“We’re saturated by the irresponsibility of the media. I’m almost numb to it at this point. For this kind of information to come out and for it to be so prejudicial is outrageous … I’m very disturbed. I don’t want to take extreme measures and I’ve attempted not to, but I’m sorely tempted to at this point.”
I don’t know what he could have done other than to continue insisting that the media follow the rules of court and procedures he had approved, and to ban members of the media from the courtroom, which he did — some for the duration of the trial. When he did anything to keep the media from completely overtaking the courtroom or the courthouse, however, he was vilified. He quickly understood the warning to never pick a fight with anyone who buys ink by the barrel. Not that knowing that cowed him.
How he continued to voice disappointment in the media long after the Simpson trial was over, which is on page 91 of my book, Anatomy of a Trial.
Anatomy of a Trial blog 