... rarely used against the media) there are little or no ways of preventing pretrial publicity from influencing jury decisions. 'Criminal contempt of court may be defined as any act done or any thing published tending to obstruct, impair, or interfere with the fair administration of justice or to bring the courts or judge into contempt; or any act done or writing published tending to obstruct or interfere with the due course of justice or lawful process of the courts' Yet there is nothing to stop the press from printing page after page of biased and very often highly opinionated coverage before, during and after any case they wish. The only other step taken in an attempt to avoid pretrial publicity effecting cases is a judicial instruction to disregard it. Another key factor to regard when considering jury decision-making is the attractiveness of the defendant. There is substantial evidence to show that jury ...

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