Casey Anthony: Judge Belvin Perry bemoans trial as soap opera - Hal

Casey Anthony: Judge Belvin Perry bemoans trial as soap opera
posted by halboedeker on July, 26 2011 7:03 PM

Chief Judge Belvin Perry was back in the news in a big way Tuesday, and the headlines were a reminder of how riveting a figure he was during the Casey Anthony trial.

During the closely followed trial, Perry delivered his thoughts with down-to-earth style and his rulings in a manner that was more gripping than the daytime dramas the trial was preempting.

Turns out that Judge Perry didn’t like the coverage, and he turned media critic in an order today.

He likened the coverage to “cheap soap opera-like entertainment,” WESH-Channel 2’s Bob Kealing reported. Perry also complained that the court proceedings were no longer news but entertainment.

WKMG-Channel 6’s Tony Pipitone also called attention to Perry’s complaint of ”cheap soap opera-like entertainment.” Anchor Lauren Rowe stressed that Perry had been “very fair to the media” during the trial. “A soap opera, huh?” Rowe added.

“He’s talking about how news media covered the trial from gavel to gavel,” Pipitone said. What do you think?

Rowe wondered if Perry would give an interview. “I’m dying to hear what he really thought through most of the trial,” she said.

In other news:

***The judge ruled that jurors’ names in the Anthony coverage will be released Oct. 25 and cited concern for the jurors’ safety for the delay. Anthony was acquitted July 5 of first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee. WESH’s Kealing highlighted Perry’s view that releasing the names “makes a mockery of the constitutional provision on the right of privacy.”

Pipitone said it was a long cooling-off period before the release. Pipitone highlighted Perry’s view that there were “unique and alarming circumstances surrounding the Casey Anthony trial.” The judge also called attention to furious messages posted on Internet sites by people angry about the acquittal.

***The judge sentenced a protester to 151 days in jail for contempt of court. Mark Schmidter had handed out jury-information pamphlets at the Orange County Courthouse away from designated protest areas marked by red boxes.

“Schmidter told the court he thought these boxes were for only Casey Anthony protesters,” WOFL-Channel 35’s Holly Bristow said.

WKMG’s Pipitone noted that Perry wasn’t impressed by Schmidter’s apology and passed judgment at the end of a three-hour trial.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2011/07/casey-anthony-judge-belvin-perry-bemoans-trial-as-soap-opera.html