Elaine Byrne: Opening court to TV spotlight runs risk of playing to the gallery

The trial in the US of Derek Chauvin for the murder is being live-streamed, but we should be very wary of going down a similar road in this country

A screen grab from the live-stream of the trial of Derek Chauvin, holding microphone, for the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis

The trial of Derek Chauvin, the former police officer accused of murdering George Floyd, began three weeks ago in the northern American state of Minnesota. The death of the 46-year-old African-American in May last year triggered the largest protest movement in the US since the Civil Rights era, and reverberated around the world.

Peter A Cahill, the presiding judge, has permitted television cameras to live-stream the trial, a first for the state, due to the ...