Scouting Hollywood: March 23-29

A roundup of news, gossip and history of the entertainment business brought to you from Hollywood, Calif.

Netflix won a defamation suit accusing it and producers of defaming a police detective in the Making a Murderer series. The Judge granted a summary judgment finding the series was covered by the First Amendment and that the same rights don’t protect a public figure, like the detective, from the “role of protagonist in popular discourse.” The subject of the series, who spent 18 years in jail, was freed based on DNA evidence as well as the publicity afforded by the series. He was subsequently arrested and convicted of another murder.

In another high-profile legal case, the special prosecutor in the Alec Baldwin murder case has stepped down after the defense argued it was unconstitutional for the prosecutor to also serve in the New Mexico Legislature. “My priority in this case – and in every case I’ve prosecuted in my 25-year career – has been justice for the victim,” stated Andrea Reeb, who was asked to join the case by the local prosecutor who was seeking a highly qualified attorney to assist the prosecution.

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