LIKE A BARNUM & BAILEY ADVANCE team, television crews caravaned into Union, South Carolina, weeks ago for the murder trial of Susan Smith. After unloading thousands of dollars' worth of equipment, scores of technicians invaded the town's 82-year-old courthouse, installing lights and vying for camera angles that accentuated the high ceilings. Meanwhile, lawyers debated whether the trial should be televised at all. Those in favor argued that live testimony would provide an opportunity to heal Union's wounds. Smith's lawyer, David Bruck, countered that potential witnesses feared an O.J. Simpson-type spectacle that would make them "as recognizable as Kato Kaelin."
Judge William...
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