America watches 'sniper movie'

By David Bamford BBC correspondent in Washington

The Washington sniper trial has got under way in the American state of Virginia with one of the two defendants, John Muhammad, appearing in court to act as his own defence lawyer.

If found guilty, he and the other man accused, Lee Malvo, could face the death penalty.

John Muhammad faces the death penalty if found guilty

But even though the trial is only just starting, the television audience in the US has already had the opportunity to watch a made-for-TV movie depicting the events of October last year that pinpoint the two men as having carried out the 10 murders.

The Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution demands fair trials for all in the American legal justice system.

But the First Amendment establishes the freedom of the press - and that freedom extends to what some have called trial by television often long before a case has even started in court.

Even as the trial was yet to begin, over the weekend American TV audiences were able to watch a movie dramatisation involving two black actors who look just like and have the same character names as the two real-life defendants.

The dramatisation, called DC Sniper: 23 Days of Fear, showed the characters gunning down their victims in cold blood, included genuine breaking TV news bulletins and even endeavoured to explain the dark motivations of Mr Muhammad and Mr Malvo, without any effort to disguise their identities.

While some Americans have their misgivings about a TV network adapting history before it has even been written, it is all perfectly legal in the US.

The jury involved in the trial spent the weekend at home, and would have been quite able to watch the movie and draw conclusions from it - although the judge did make them promise they would steer clear of all TV coverage of the case.