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5th annual Undergraduate Research Symposium, April 17, 2025

Caroline Messer

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BIO

My name is Amalie Messer, I'm 16 and I'm a dual-enrolled Junior at the Collegiate School at FSU Panama City and I play beach volleyball at Arnold High School. I love going to the beach, my amazing (and fast) car, and playing and watching sports- but mostly, I am intrigued in criminal law and love to watch and listen to court cases on criminal activity. I hope to continue my collegiate time at the US Naval Academy, and pure a career as a naval pilot, following the footsteps my father and many family members with a career in the military. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to present my work and study at FSU, and cannot wait to further my studies in Political Science.

Beyond the Evidence: The Role of Public Media’s Influence on Criminal Law Trials

Authors: Caroline Messer, Mrs. Flammia-Moreno
Student Major: Political Science
Mentor: Mrs. Flammia-Moreno
Mentor's Department: Research
Mentor's College: The Collegiate School at FSU
Co-Presenters:

Abstract

Public media’s intervention with the courtroom is a complex environment where the principals of justice and fairness meet the pervasive influence of public opinion. With all our available media outlets, ranging from newspaper headlines to what we hear on the news channels, it all wields a significant power in shaping public perception. This influence reaches criminal law cases, where it can impact jury decisions and partiality, credibility to the accused or lack thereof, and scrutiny towards legal proceedings as the media acts as watchdogs waiting for the next thing to go down. The media’s role in cases such as the Menendez Brothers, O.J. Simpson, and Ted Bundy are the focuses on this research as we dive into the perception of justices and injustices through the public media’s watchful eyes. The data collected in this research will show no biases, or any partiality towards one side or another, but for the Ted Bunny case, that one is harder to defend so that information will probably be a little biased. All the cases are happening around the same time frame, with OJ Simpson and the Menendez brothers in the same decade. I use sources fro databases and trusting sources to find what I'm looking for in this journey of watching the watchers on these cases.

Keywords: criminal law, media perception