From "Open Court" on truTV

I appeared on Lisa Bloom's Open Court on truTV on Thursday morning with Autumn Sandeen of PamsHouseBlend to discuss the verdict in the trial of Alan Andrade, convicted of killing 18-year-old transgender woman Angie Zapata. Autumn, as listeners to my show know, had been covering the trial from Greeley, Colorado, and came on the show several times to discuss it. Autumn not only gave us enormous insight and perspective; she transformed the mainstream media that covered this trial, becoming a valuable resource.

I cannot overstate what amazingly comprehensive, compassionate coverage that Open Court did on this trial, and part of that was their tapping into Autumn's insights. Lisa Bloom and her team were unapologetic in their advocacy of equality and justice. That shouldn't be eyebrow-raising, but with the state of TV news today, it sadly is. The trial was not only covered for days, but this discussion of the verdict and sentencing that Autumn and I participated in went on for two hours. We were both part of the discussion for well over an hour, and the coverage included long clips from the trial, interviews with Zapata's family, police, the district attorney and an interview with the openly transgender mayor of Silverton, Oregon, Stu Rassmussen. I was impressed and touched by it, and commend Lisa Bloom and her team. Here is a clip (temporarily I'm linking to PHB, but will have this and another clip on The Gist later), from the coverage and discussions in which we participated, though it's only just a small sampling.