Panel weighs publicity surrounding Smart kidnapping case

Still, the hoards of media and the public clamoring to get inside the courtroom and hungry for details afterward had both legal teams keenly aware of the importance of the trial — and the fact they were under the microscope as well.

"Public scrutiny just added another layer to making sure we did the best job we could," Hagen said.

Beyond the administrative headaches posed by the publicity and some of the legal arguments surrounding venue and access, Kimball said he doesn't think the high level of public attention shaped the heart of what happened in the courtroom in the Mitchell case.

"You can control the courtroom and the courthouse, and the decorum and the behavior," Kimball said, "but it is pretty tough to control it anywhere else."

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