Casey Anthony trial: Pretrial publicity has an effect - OS

Casey Anthony trial: Pretrial publicity has an effect
Jurors exposed to positive publicity tend to favor the defendant; negative coverage can lead to guilty verdicts.
By Anthony Colarossi, Orlando Sentinel
6:31 p.m. EDT, April 19, 2011

Excerpt:

The images of Casey Anthony exist everywhere: online, on television, in print.

They frequently show the young woman walking in handcuffs, dancing with scantily clad friends or sitting between her defense lawyers. The stories often suggest a young woman who sought freedom to party and then lied to law enforcement about her daughter's disappearance.

Experts say pretrial publicity can have very real effects on the outcomes of criminal cases as jurors exposed to positive publicity tend to favor the criminally charged, while negative coverage can lead to guilty verdicts.

Much of the way Casey Anthony has been cast in the media is clearly negative, said Dr. Christine Ruva, a psychology professor at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee. And for that reason, she and others watching the case suspect jury selection will not be a simple process.

READ MORE: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/os-casey-anthony-trial-jury-venue-20110415,0,7905854.story