Supreme Court Justice Joseph Teresi allowed Court TV to televise the upcoming trial of four New York City police officers who are charged with killing Amadou Diallo in a hail of 41 bullets. The defense will argue the shooting was a horrible mistake.
Prosecutors say it was murder.
The trial was moved to Albany because protests and media coverage were at fever-pitch in the city. Against this backdrop, Justice Teresi was asked to rule on the constitutionality of a 1952 state law that banned cameras from the courtroom. The state Legislature voted to allow cameras in the courtroom as an experiment for 10 years, ending in 1997. Since then, the legislature hasn't acted to let cameras back in. Some lawmakers blamed TV for the circus atmosphere of the O.J. Simpson trial.