Journal

Thoughts, links, and randomness galore!

Sunday, May 08, 2005
My first baby

No no, I'm not pregnant, but I feel like I've brought something to life.

After five months of failed pitches, the Court TV executives have finally decided to air a trial that I researched! Like I explained earlier, most trials never see the light of day, so I'm excited about my "baby."

As a quick refresher, I scour the news for interesting trials for Court TV to air. Nine out of ten crimes I read about go straight in the trash because they're open-and-shut cases (the defendant is a repeat offender, there's no defense, or the crime is standard). Of the few cases I do select, I "cultivate" them, following them from the crime itself to the investigation, arraignment, preliminary hearings, motions and load of other court dates. Unfortuantely, nine out of ten of my "babies" don't go to trial, or they're delayed indefinitely. For example, a female teacher who allegedly wed a female ex-student in a pagan ceremony pleaded out of her trial. Another teacher who assaulted his student pleaded guilty before his retrial, even though the student said she transferred her crush from Kevin Spacey onto him (American Beauty was her favorite movie). Everytime someone pleads guilty, a little part of me dies.

I'm proud of the few cases that weather through, only to have nine out of ten of them killed on the spot during the pitch meetings. Actually, that statistic's pretty generous. I've presented about 75 cases to the execs, and all of them were rejected so far.

But finally, a Tennessee case about an amusement park ride death interested the execs. Basically, a woman fell 60 feet to her death when her safety restraint device failed. The park owner is charged with second-degree murder, the most severe crime in the state after first-degree murder. Experts have said it's the first murder case resulting from a ride death. Is the charge too severe? You'll just have to watch Court TV starting Wed. to find out.

After the execs picked my case, I faxed a letter to the judge and lawyers, asking for permission to televise the trial. Within hours, the judge's assistant said cameras were okay, but the media outlets would have to negotiate among themselves who would be pool.

Of course Court TV wanted sole control over the cameras, and I had to figure out how to get us in.

This little dialogue played out in my head:

"I have no idea what the crap I'm doing. Uhhhhhhh...I don't even know who else wants camera access."

"Think. You're a reporter."

"I guess I could ask the judge's assistant."

So I called back the judge's assistant and asked about other media companies. She said that a local TV station expressed interest one day before us. (Oh no! Does that mean they had first dibs?) But we were the first people to put it in writing. (Phew!)

I looked up that TV station's phone number off the Internet and called the general line. I tried not to fumble as I told them who I was and asked about camera access. They transferred me to a nice guy who seceded all camera power to us. Whoohoo!

A couple hours later, a Tennessee newspaper reporter called and wanted to interview me. She said she got my info from a fax I sent to the prosecutor. Ha, slippery little journalist! Because of company policy, I could not comment.

The next day, two other TV stations called, once again lifting my info from the fax. It was cool seeing how quickly the info had spread. But by then, the case wasn't my business anymore. I transferred all responsibility to the Assignment Desk, who coordinates all technical stuff.

Anyway, remember to watch Court TV from 9 AM-5 PM EST starting this Wed. for live coverage of Tennessee v. Charles Stan Martin!

posted by Jessica at 9:29 PM | 0 comments

0 Comments: