The East Tennessee Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists is opposing efforts by state prosecutors to bar filming and broadcasting of a key witness’ testimony in a trial beginning this week.
WBIR has asked Knox County Criminal Court Judge Steve Sword for a hearing to challenge the state’s request to prohibit filming of state witness Azley Mills.
The ETSPJ letter is in support of WBIR’s efforts.
The case involves three young Knoxville men accused of ambushing and trying to kill two Austin-East High School students in January 2021 as they left the school. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday.
An article on WBIR.Com said:
“The trial also features an extremely rare bid by the state to prohibit Knoxville media outlets from filming and broadcasting the testimony of a key witness — one of the two young people who were in the vehicle that left Austin-East and fled the defendants to an East Knoxville gas station, where both the defendants and the victims traded gunfire.
The Knox County District Attorney’s Office cited the safety of the witness in wanting to prevent broadcast or recording of her testimony.
ETSPJ President Maria Cornelius wrote in the chapter’s letter of support:
“I am writing as president of the local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists in East Tennessee in support of allowing full access for media to video courtroom testimony at a public trial. For television and broadcast media, the story is conveyed primarily through video and other visuals. Banning cameras at any point in a trial deprives a media entity of its full ability to cover the trial.
“In general, cameras in the courtroom allow the public a full understanding of how court trials are conducted. Transparency should prevail in this case.”