Description: Marcus Jones reports on the public's interest in the Pamela Smart trial. Includes interviews with "groupies" that wait overnight for public seating inside the courtroom, or to watch the trial on television in an adjoining room. The trial is being broadcast live throughout New Hampshire (shots of residents watching in bars, nursing homes, etc.) and has gained national media attention. Reporter Bill Spencer says that the live courtroom coverage will help people understand the legal system and make them more willing to serve as jurors, but Marcus Jones wonders whether the "circus atmosphere" surrounding the trial is about "justice, or just entertainment." B-roll follows edited story, including courthouse exterior, metal detector, waiting for a place in courtroom, Court Room One signs, bags being searched before entry, people entering courtroom directly, Pamela Smart entering courtroom, onlookers watching on television in overflow room, shots of Smart testimony on television.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 03/18/1991
Description: Meg Vaillancourt interviews South Boston high school sophomore boys about their view of confessed teenage murderer William Flynn in the Pamela Smart trial. Interview with Edward Loughran, Commissioner of the Department of Youth Services, about regulations surrounding juvenile offenders charged with capital crimes in Massachusetts.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 03/18/1991