Renowned Courtroom Reporter Linda Deutsch to Visit UH

From Sirhan Sirhan and Patty Hearst to William Kennedy Smith and O.J. Simpson, Linda Deutsch has covered some of the most infamous trials in history

University of Hawaiʻi
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Posted: Oct 15, 2002

Linda Deutsch, legal affairs correspondent and premier courtroom reporter for the Associated Press, will share her experiences and insight with the public in a lecture entitled "High Profile: A Look at the Most Celebrated Trials of our Times," at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa on Tuesday, October 22, at 7 p.m. in the Campus Center Ballroom. The event is free and open to the public.

Deutsch has covered some of the most famous trials of our time, including those of Sirhan Sirhan, Charles Manson, Patty Hearst, Exxon Valdez skipper Joseph Hazelwood, William Kennedy Smith, the four police officers accused in the beating of motorist Rodney King, and the Menendez Brothers. She is currently covering the Robert Blake murder case.

Her most notable work has been her coverage of the O.J. Simpson criminal and civil trials, for which she was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. At the end of the criminal trial, the AP honored her with its prestigious Oliver Gramling Award for career long excellence. The Simpson trial brought her face as well as her byline into millions of homes as she was called upon by TV news shows to share her expertise with audiences across the world. She coauthored the AP book, "Verdict: The Chronicle of the O.J. Simpson Trial," and she also wrote the foreword to "Headline Justice," a book by her best friend and mentor, legendary reporter Theo Wilson.

Deutsch has also covered two U.S. presidents, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, at their Western White Houses and covered two assassination attempts on a third president, Gerald Ford. From Guam, she helped cover the evacuation of Vietnam after the fall of Saigon.

AP named Deutsch a special correspondent in 1992 in recognition of her long and distinguished career with the wire service. The designation of special correspondent is one she shares with only a handful of other active AP writers and one that has been bestowed on just 18 AP reporters in the history of the news service.

In her lecture, Deutsch will examine how trials, especially those of celebrity figures, form the social history of our times. Based on her own experience and insight covering the most famous trials of the past three decades, Deutsch will demonstrate how trials have become a microcosm of our world reflecting the attitude of our country, state of our economy, and values of our society. She will also offer a behind the scenes look at some of the more humorous and lighter moments of covering these headline making events.

Deutsch will also be speaking to the Honolulu Media Council and to various UH classes including journalism classes, and beginning law students at the William S. Richardson School of Law and paralegal students from the various UH community colleges.