Andrew Kissel to be focus of TV movie

Slain real estate developer Andrew Kissel will be the subject of a cable TV movie Saturday. The movie, which will air on Lifetime, is drawing backlash from the attorney of one man charged in Kissel's

News 12 Staff

Nov 13, 2008, 12:50 AM

Updated 5,887 days ago

Share:

Slain real estate developer Andrew Kissel will be the subject of a cable TV movie Saturday.
The movie, which will air on Lifetime, is drawing backlash from the attorney of one man charged in Kissel's murder. Defense attorney Mark Sherman, who represents Leonard Trujillo, says his defendant may not receive a fair trial after the movie is aired.
Trujillo, of Worcester, Mass., was charged with murder and conspiracy and his cousin, 47-year-old Carlos Trujillo, of Bridgeport, was charged with conspiracy to commit murder in Kissel's 2006 slaying.
Sherman says it's going to be hard for potential jurors to distinguish between what they see on television and what they will hear in the courtroom.
William Dunlap, a Quinnipiac University law professor, says the movie's airing is a classic example of the conflict between the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech, and the Sixth Amendment, which guarantees citizens the right to a fair and speedy trial.
He says the defendants should still receive a fair trial.
?When the trial is going to be held, there's a lot of information that's going to come out that was not available to the writers and producers of this program,? he says. ?That has to be stressed.?
Related stories: