Casey Anthony: Judge Belvin Perry bemoans trial as soap opera
Chief Judge Belvin Perry during the July 7 sentencing hearing for Casey Anthony. Photo credit: Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel
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.