Linda Deutsch, who for nearly 50 years covered some of the nation’s most significant criminal and civil trials — Charles Manson, O.J. Simpson, Michael Jackson, among others — died Sunday at 80 of pancreatic cancer. .
Deutsch, who retired in 2015, began her courts career with the 1969 conviction of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy’s assassin, Sirhan Sirhan. She went on to cover cover a who's who of defendants — Manson, Simpson, Jackson, Patty Hearst, Phil Spector, the Menendez Brothers, “Night Stalker” Richard Ramirez, "Unabomber Ted Kaczynski and the police officers charged in the beating of motorist Rodney King, the AP reports. She was in a Los Angeles courtroom in 1995 for “The Trial of the Century” that saw Simpson, an NFL Hall of Famer, acquitted of killing his ex-wife and her friend. Thirteen years later, Deutsch was in a Las Vegas courtroom when Simpson was convicted of kidnapping and robbery and sentenced to prison. “When a big trial loomed, AP’s assignment editors didn’t have to ask who should get the assignment. No, the instant question was, ‘Is Linda available?’” recalled former AP CEO Louis Boccardi. “She mastered the art of celebrity trial coverage and, in the process, became something of a media celebrity herself.”
For decades, Deutsch covered every appeal and parole hearing of each convicted Manson family member. Other historic moments included witnessing the 1976 conviction of Hearst, the newspaper heiress found guilty on bank robbery and other charges; the 2005 acquittal of Jackson on child molestation charges; and the 2009 murder conviction of Spector, the famed music producer. Her work was not limited to celebrity — other trials involved fraud, conspiracy, environmental disasters and immigration — and eventually earned her the title of special correspondent, the most prestigious byline for an AP reporter. It was the 1992 trial of four Los Angeles police officers who were videotaped beating King that shook Deutsch the most. Their acquittals triggered rioting in Los Angeles that killed 55 people and caused $1 billion in property damage. “That almost destroyed my belief in the justice system,” she said. “I feel a jury usually gets it right, but in that case, no. It was the wrong conclusion. It was the wrong verdict and it nearly destroyed my city.”
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