NBC “News” is quickly gaining a reputation for altering evidence in hot-button criminal cases. First, a still-anonymous NBC producer deceptively edited George Zimmerman’s 911 call to make him sound like a racist. Now this. Reuters:
Lawyers for Jerry Sandusky sought a mistrial before his conviction for child sex abuse on the grounds that prosecutors showed jurors an inaccurate version of a bombshell NBC News interview with the former football coach, and the mistake may now form part of the basis for an appeal.
In response to a subpoena, NBC News turned over three versions of Bob Costas’ NBC News interview with Sandusky, which aired last November on different NBC shows.
One of those versions, which was broadcast on the ‘Today’ show, contained an erroneous repetition of a key question and answer – about whether Sandusky was sexually attracted to young boys, Nils Frederiksen, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania attorney general said on Sunday.
The repetition, Sandusky’s lawyers contend, made it appear to jurors that he was stonewalling.
Nice job, NBC. Hey, maybe you could claim you’ve fired the person responsible, without saying who it is or how it happened. That one always works.
If this somehow helps Sandusky, do you suppose the same people who dismissed the hatchet job on George Zimmerman will dismiss this one? In retrospect, merely rigging a truck to explode seems quaint.
P.S. I forgot about Andrea Mitchell’s deceptive editing last week. It’s become so commonplace at NBC, it’s hard to keep track.