Kenneth Williams, professor of law at South Texas College of Law Houston spoke to Houston Matters on Monday about the case<\/a>. <\/p>\n\u201cWe know that there was a comedian from Comedy Central who filmed Mr. Hall making certain gratuitous comments about the criminal justice process and crime, and criminal law in general,\u201d Williams said. \u201cAnd that footage was never aired, but it was actually used during his trial. And his attorney is arguing that that was a violation of his constitutional right under the Texas amendment.\u201d <\/p>\n
Williams explained that state law does not permit the state to contact a defendant once they have been formally charged with a crime, and since Hall had been charged with a crime at that time, his team is arguing that the state impermissibly contacted Hall and conducted the interview. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe big issue is going to be whether or not this actually was the state\u2019s doing or was this purely the actions of a private individual, the comedian with Comedy Central,\u201d he said. \u201cWas the state somehow involved, as the defendant is arguing, in this contact?\u201d <\/p>\n
During the footage there were comments in a joking manner about crime and murder. Williams said Hall never brought up his personal case during the interview, but prosecutors argue that the footage shows that Hall had a lack of remorse and indifference on his part of committing the crime. <\/p>\n
Williams said Hall has an uphill challenge to convince the Supreme Court to take his case. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor one, he\u2019s got to prove that the state was involved in this process, that the comedian was acting as an agent of the state,\u201d Williams said. \u201cAnd I think that\u2019s going to be pretty hard to do. And then, even if he can prove that, he\u2019s got to prove that his case was harmed by this footage being shown to the jury, and affected the outcome of his case. I think those are going to be two extraordinarily difficult hurdles for him to overcome.\u201d <\/p>\n
According to Hall\u2019s lawyers, they issued a statement to Brazos County Sheriff asking Hall not to be contacted by outside sources without the lawyer\u2019s permission, but Ross, a comedian who is known for roasting people, still filmed inside the jail. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe (jail) wasn\u2019t careful enough, I guess, following those directives, and maybe they were under the impression that a comedian wouldn\u2019t be eliciting any kind of information about his case,\u201d he said. \u201cUsually those orders would apply to somebody who\u2019s looking for information about the case. Maybe that would be the position why (the jail) allowed the filming to take place.\u201d <\/p>\n
Williams also pointed out that Hall did sign a release and that inmates were informed that they would be filmed. <\/p>\n
\u201cEven though the state might have been negligent in allowing filming, that isn\u2019t sufficient for him to argue that his constitutional rights were violated,\u201d Williams said. <\/p>\n
Comedy Central and Ross have not publicly commented on the appeal in the case.<\/p>\n
Williams said this is a unique case, and it might be several months before the court decides whether or not they will take his case. <\/p>\n
![\"Jeff](\"https:\/\/cdn.hpm.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/02120201\/AP19091840702756-1000x667.jpg.webp)
<\/source><\/picture><\/a><\/p>\n