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AS THE SEPT. 19 trial date of O.J. Simpson nears, new attention is being focused on the media's role in what is expected to be a legal extravaganza.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lance Ito, who will preside at the murder trial, ruled that reporters may not view photos of the bodies of Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman, the victims Simpson is accused of stabbing to death. Such a privilege, Ito said, would "inevitably lead to graphic, sensationalistic, lurid and prurient descriptions" that could jeopardize Simpson's right to a fair trial.
The judge also refused to unseal transcripts of five closed-door proceedings held in July that concerned witness safety and the mysterious yellow envelope defense lawyers turned over to the court during Simpson's preliminary hearing.
In another development, state legislative committees in Sacramento, citing massive pre-trial publicity in the Simpson case, approved two bills that would make it illegal for a witness to sell information about a crime either before...