AJR  The Beat
From AJR,   November 1995

Life After O.J.   

By LaRonda R. Miller
     


C NN premier legal analyst Greta Van Susteren believes that there is life after O.J.

But it won't be the same life she had when she was simply practicing law and not playing pundit on national television. In addition to returning to Coale & Van Susteren, where her law partner is her husband, John Coale , Van Susteren will be cohosting CNN's new daily legal show, "Burden of Proof," with Roger Cossack .

After a year in the limelight elucidating the twists and turns of the O.J. Simpson trial, it's clear Van Susteren hasn't gotten TV out of her blood.

"Media is so important in our [legal] system," she says. But as a media outsider, she understands that the public has grown increasingly weary of their influence. "The best thing about the mass media," she adds, "is that if people don't want [the information], they can throw down the paper or pull the plug."

Van Susteren, 41, says "Burden of Proof" will cover everything from current trials to laws pending before state legislatures and Congress. She hopes it will generate debate about the important legal issues of the day.

As for the trial that gave a major boost to her broadcasting career, she says it was "one of the fairest trials I've ever seen, even if I don't agree with all its conclusions."

Van Susteren rejects the notion that Simpson was able to "buy" his way out of double murder charges by hiring his high-priced legal dream team. She says Simpson's wealth did nothing more than give him an even chance. "It's rare that a defendant can afford to have experts to counter the prosecution's case," she says.

Van Susteren made her debut on CNN in 1991 as a legal analyst for the William Kennedy Smith trial. And as much as the Appleton, Wisconsin, native enjoyed her high-profile gig as a Simpson trial guru, Van Susteren says she is also anxious to get back to being a courtroom combatant rather than an analyst. And there's an extra-legal reason she's glad to begin her post-O.J. life: "I miss my husband."

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