The prosecution's case was weak, and after 20 minutes of deliberation, a jury in York, Pa., acquitted James Howard of the mutilation-murder of another York man. Within hours the case against a co-defendant was discontinued for lack of evidence. Thus ended a proceeding that had caused a sensation in the old, placid factory town (pop. 50,335) just west of the Susquehanna.
Yet York's 30-member press corps was bitterly divided last week over coverageor non-coverageof the trial. Despite the absence of a court order, the town's two dailies, two papers in nearby Harrisburg that...