What is the court of public opinion? How does it influence trial outcome?

Answer 1

Court of public opinion is what we the masses are when listening to the media and it's the media's take on the issue that influences trials through public opinion. Sometimes the media gets it wrong, but its to late because we already heard it!

Answer 2

The above poster is correct.

It describes two things. First, how people get condemned or acquitted by the press, regardless of any facts of law. For example, many people demand a pardon for the border patrol agents who were found guilty by a jury of murder, based purely on what they've seen in the media and without any understanding of what really happened.

The second as pointed out above, is once someone is condemned by the media, that coverage taints the jury pool because many people have already formed an opinion before seeing any of the evidence. And the rule of law requires that a conviction or acquittal be made based on the evidence presented, not on what people have heard in the media.