Sports-Related Cases Heat up in Media

[Shame About Ray]

When a professional athlete goes to trial, the media shines a bright light.

And ESPN.com writer and commentator Lester Munson told a group of Memphis lawyers the light can distort appearances and even become too much of a temptation for judges.

Munson, who is an attorney and has been a reporter on legal issues in the sports industry for 18 years, was the featured speaker at last week's Law Week luncheon. His specialty is labor and antitrust issues, but Munson also has reported on the criminal trials of some of the most famous athletes in the world.
Winks, nods and news

He offered top three lists of professional athlete trials where the legal system did and didn't work properly. Each list was a mix of guilty verdicts and acquittals.

The 1995 double-murder trial of former pro football player O.J. Simpson made his "Didn't Work" list.

"That was a major watershed I think in sports journalism - maybe in journalism generally," Munson told The Daily News of the trial that ended with Simpson's acquittal on charges of murdering ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. "I think from that point forward, any time there's a domestic violence 911 call, we're reporting on it. We used to treat that with a wink and a nod. ... Now it's a crime."

Munson is among those who remain critical of the conduct of trial judge Lance Ito, who invited notable guests in the gallery to his chambers for private talks, including Munson's photographer for two hours as the trial was put on hold.

On the other list is the 1992 rape trial of former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson. Munson credits the judge in that case for setting rules on the 400 media representatives from around the world who covered the Indianapolis case that ended with Tyson's conviction of raping Desiree Washington.

Attorney Charles Carpenter asked Munson whether the media presence hinders the administration of justice in some cases.

"Yes it most certainly does. The Kobe Bryant case would be the prime example of that," Munson said of the 2004 rape
case that ended with the alleged victim declining to press charges after courthouse leaks of key information. "I have seen judges who have responded brilliantly to media pressures and I have seen judges who collapsed in the face of media pressures.

"Our job is to try to report the news fairly and accurately. Do we pile on at times? Yes, there's no question about it. And 24-hour cable channels have an insatiable appetite for this."

Munson, who also has covered legal issues for Sports Illustrated, said judges could find themselves in a new and unique situation.

"The problem is that every judge that catches one of these (cases) probably hasn't had one before," he said. "They're approaching it without anything to fall back on."

Reporting on the alleged misdeeds of a star athlete doesn't win journalists much favor with the public. Munson said the public is more willing to be critical of movie stars than athletes.

"I think celebrity athletes enjoy advantages that perhaps other celebrities don't," he said. "People are slow to realize misconduct by athletes. If Michael Jordan has won six championships and he's accused of some sort of gambling, people just don't want to hear that. ... It's hard to do negative stories about sports icons. Sometimes they help us by doing stupid things, but not always.

"I think we sit and wonder what they can do. ... The fact that they can do these seemingly superhuman things allows them a kind of immunity that you don't see among other celebrities. Once something bad does happen, I think lately we are doing a better job of reporting on it - certainly better than we did before the Simpson case."

BILL DRIES | The Daily News
May 8th, 2008
Memphis Daily News