The news media will be able to broadcast a closed-circuit feed of the Aurora movie theater trial but will not be able to film the proceedings with its own cameras, according to a ruling issued Tuesday.
Arapahoe County Chief District Court Judge Carlos Samour, who is overseeing the case, wrote in his order that the only feed from the courtroom will come from a ceiling-mounted camera controlled by the court. The camera has previously been used to transmit court proceedings to overflow rooms where victims or members of the media could watch significant hearings in the case.
The camera is in a fixed position, meaning it will not be able to pan the courtroom or zoom in or zoom out. Samour ruled that the camera will show only “the witness stand, the screen above the witness stand for presentation of evidence, the defense table, part of the prosecution table, the podium, the courtroom well and the (judge).”
The closed-circuit feed also includes audio.
“The purpose of this order,” Samour wrote in the ruling, “is strictly to make the trial accessible to a larger portion of the public, including some victims.”
The arrangement is less than what media outlets asked for when requesting to broadcast the trial using a dedicated television camera. Samour also denied a request from The Denver Post to have a still photographer in the courtroom during the trial. He further restricted where members of the media can stand outside the courthouse when taking pictures, conducting interviews or broadcasting their reports.
The media in Colorado do not have a guaranteed right to broadcast or take pictures of trials. Instead, media outlets must make special expanded media coverage, or EMC, requests.
In explaining the compromise, Samour’s ruling touched on the O.J. Simpson murder trial, the Michael Jackson child molestation trial and concerns that the theater shooting trial will become a media circus.
“The parties are naive if they believe that denial of EMC in this case will prevent or noticeably reduce the intense and widespread publicity of the trial,” Samour wrote.
However, Samour also concluded he doesn’t need to help the media put out the best presentation possible.
“[A]ny desire to make the broadcast more interesting or entertaining, while understandable, is not relevant to the Court’s determination,” Samour wrote.
The ruling is not able to be appealed.
Steven Zansberg, the attorney who represented The Post and the Associated Press in the request for a still photographer in the courtroom, expressed dismay at the ruling.
“We are deeply disappointed that the Judge has relegated the public to view this trial essentially though a tiny peephole covered by a fuzzy mesh,” Zansberg said in a statement. “High quality miniaturized cameras are readily available that would allow the public a meaningful view without creating any impact within the courtroom.”
Jury selection for the trial is scheduled to start in December. Opening arguments in the case may not begin until after the new year, and the trial could last for months. James Holmes could be sentenced to death if convicted of killing 12 people and trying to kill 70 more in the July, 2012, attack.
John Ingold: 303-954-1068, jingold@denverpost.com or twitter.com/johningold
