NEW YORK–"Raising the Bar" is not just another TV show about lawyers. This show is on a mission to tell you the truth about the system from the inside out.

"Raising the Bar" premieres on TNT this Monday, September 1. It's all about criminal defense attorneys and their clients. And it's about time. Because for too long criminal defense attorneys have been the foil for Hollywood prosecutors, easy fodder for lazy writers who want to appeal to a law-and-order public.

And that may seem harmless, but over time playing defense attorneys as the bad guys is actually undermining justice. Add to that a bevy of blond talk show hosts out for blood and the presumption of innocence is a thing of the past.

Which is all well and good until it's your son or your husband or even you who is charged with a crime. Then you'll want that presumption of innocence. Then you'll want a good lawyer to take your case. And you'll want a jury that can be fair. So if you're lucky, a show like "Raising the Bar" will help rebalance those scales of justice, before it's too late.

That's the Last Word.

–Jami Floyd, In Session anchor

NEW YORK - "The law recognizes a difference between a true threat - one that can be carried out - and the reported racist rantings of a drug addict." That was U.S. Attorney Troy Eid's comment concerning the group arrested in Denver with guns, methamphetamine, and bulletproof vests after allegedly making racist threats against Barack Obama.

There were accusations the suspects planned to shoot Obama during his convention acceptance speech, to be delivered at Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium Thursday, on the anniversary of Martin Luther King's famous "I Have a Dream" address. But the three men are behind bars charged with drug and weapons offenses, not with threatening to assassinate Obama or with other national security-related crimes.

The arrests should spark recognition of the fact that this country does have a history concerning political assassinations. There have been at least 17 assassination attempts against presidents and four of the 43 presidents were murdered. Because of concerns about the safety of Obama and the fact he was a black presidential candidate, the Department of Homeland security approved an increased Secret Service presence earlier this year. Authorities have also been tracking racist chatter on white-supremacist Web sites and bomb sniffing dogs were not an uncommon site at campaign events. There were estimates that his campaign spent more than $100 million for protection.

As the specter of racism rears it's ugly head, despite the fact that federal agents are downplaying this week's alleged plot, the incident should raise security concerns over the man who could become the first black president in America.

-Bob Regan, In Session senior executive producer

NEW YORK - So back to the mistrial in case of Sean Fitzpatrick. And let's face it, juries do get hung up. It's just a fact of our legal system and nobody much likes it. Not the judge who has worked so hard to protect the process. Not the lawyers who have worked day and night to win it. Not the defendant whose freedom is hanging in the balance and certainly not the victims seeking justice.

Michele Zammitti, wife of shooting victim, reacts to mistrial

But the folks who are most disappointed with a deadlock? Well the jurors of course. I mean think about it: They have given up days, weeks, sometimes even months of their lives to serve. They have listened to all the evidence; they've worked so hard to get to a verdict.

So as frustrated as we may be with a deadlock, we really can't criticize. First of all we, trial watchers, have the least at stake in the outcome. Besides, a hung jury is a result. Justice in a murder trial requires unanimity and when there isn't any, justice calls for a mistrial. And that's the Last Word.

–Jami Floyd, In Session anchor

WOBURN, Massachusetts - A judge overseeing the murder trial of Sean Fitzpatrick has declared a mistrial Tuesday after the jury announced for a second time that it was deadlocked.

The final note from jurors, delivered at the end of the fourth day of deliberations, said: "some members expressed conviction they could never vote guilty in the absence of physical evidence."

Fitzpatrick was charged in the double murder of his ex-lover’s husband and the husband’s employee.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has already indicated that it plans to retry Fitzpatrick for the March, 2006 murders and he continues to be held without bail.

In Session will bring you full coverage of the judge's decision Wednesday.

-In Session staff

NEW YORK - Let's face it. The Sean Fitzpatrick trial has more twists and turns than a John Grisham thriller. And that's why we're watching.

Fine by me, because trials have always been entertainment in this country even before TV. Heck even before we were a country. Way back in 1770, we flocked to the courthouse to see John Adams defend 5 British soldiers charged in the Boston Massacre. Talk about unpopular clients. And it was the same in 1807, when Aaron Burr was tried for treason. Fast forward to the Lindburg baby trial, and of course Sam Sheppard and his murder trial which led to real entertainment: a TV show and blockbuster movies. And of course there was, and still is, OJ.

Sean Fitzpatrick is less notorious a defendant but his storyline is good TV all the same. Because real life human drama is the best drama of all. And that's okay too. As long as we remember that, for the people in that courtroom, it's not entertainment at all. It's all too real. And that's the Last Word.

-Jami Floyd, In Session anchor

WOBURN, Massachusetts - Late Monday afternoon, the four men and eight women of the Fitzpatrick jury sent out a note indicating that after several votes they remained deadlocked.

So, first thing Tuesday morning, the jurors were brought into court and given a Rodriguez charge by Judge Kathe Tuttman. Often referred to as a "dynamite charge," the new instruction tells jurors to go back and give it another try. "There is no reason to suppose that this case will ever be submitted to 12 persons more intelligent or competent to decide it than you are . . . it is your duty to decide this case if you can do so conscientiously." With that, the jury resumed its deliberations.

But roughly an hour later, the jury foreperson sent out another note: "During our deliberations this morning, one of the jurors mentioned he/she had asked someone outside the jury about window replacement in trucks. Please advise." (The truck prosecutors believe Sean Fitzpatrick drove to/from the crime scene had broken rear window.) After discussing the issue with the attorneys, Judge Tuttman brought the jury back into the courtroom for yet another instruction. "During your deliberations, you may not consider any information gained from any source outside of this courtroom . . . in short, you are to confine your deliberations to the evidence, and nothing but the evidence . . ."

Deliberations continue and In Session will continue to bring live coverage of all the latest developments. 

-In Session staff

LAS VEGAS, Nevada - Monday's status check in the O.J. Simpson case was a short proceeding, but attorneys are still working behind closed doors on a number of things - including going over the 500 completed questionnaires by prospective jurors.

O.J. Simpson and co-defendant C.J. Stewart

Co-defendant C. J. Stewart attended today's hearing, which was a bit of a surprise since the defendant's attendance is not required. Stewart's attorney, Robert Lucherini, asked the court for a continuance and a stay of the upcoming trial, but both motions were denied by Judge Jackie Glass. This rulings clear the way procedurally for the Nevada Supreme Court to act on Stewart's filing. He wants the Supreme Court to ultimately sever his case away from Simpson's.

The trial begins September 8 here in Las Vegas.

-Jean Casarez, In Session correspondent

WOBURN, Massachusetts - On the third day of deliberations, 12 jurors deliberating over the fate of Sean Fitzpatrick sent a note to the judge saying that after careful consideration of the facts and several votes, they are deadlocked. Shortly after, the judge, Kathe Tuttman, sent the panel home and ordered them to return to court tomorrow at 9 am. At that time, Tuttman will read a so-called "Rodriguez charge" - essentially instructing the jury to continue deliberations in an attempt to break their impasse.

Fitzpatrick stands accused of gunning down Michael Zammitti, Jr. on March 13, 2006, after Zammitti’s wife, Michele, told Fitzpatrick that she was ending their affair and staying with her husband. Chester Roberts, the second murder victim, apparently stumbled across the crime in progress, and was killed to eliminate a witness.

In Session will bring you continued live coverage Tuesday.

-In Session staff

WOBURN, Massachusetts - The four men and eight women considering the fate of Sean Fitzpatrick have resumed their deliberations today. Fitzpatrick is charged with the double murder of his ex-lover’s husband and the husband’s employee.

They spent their first full day of deliberations Friday and left for the weekend without arriving at a decision. But the defendant may have some reason to be hopeful. That's because it appears that at least some of the jurors are struggling with the question of whether or not the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was able to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. On Friday afternoon, jurors sent out the following request: “The jury would like to receive a legal definition of the term ‘reasonable doubt.'”

As a result, after consulting with the attorneys, Judge Kathe Tuttman summoned the jurors and alternates into the courtroom to recharge them in the concept of reasonable doubt, reading from the instructions the jurors had originally heard the previous afternoon. “A charge is proved beyond a reasonable doubt if you have in your minds after the evaluation of all the evidence an abiding conviction to a moral certainty that the charge is true . . . I remind you as well that you must consider all my instructions as a whole.” With that, the jurors returned to their deliberations. Roughly one hour later, they were released for the day.

Overall, jurors deliberated for 2 hours on Thursday and 7 hours on Friday. Also, there is one less alternate juror. At the end of the day Friday, one of the three alternate jurors was permanently excused for personal reasons. There are now two remaining alternates: one male, one female.

-In Session staff

WOBURN, Massachusetts–The fate of Sean Fitzpatrick – charged with the double murders of Michael Zammitti, Jr. and Chester Roberts on March 13, 2006 – is now in the hands of a Massachusetts jury. The unsequestered panel of four men and eight women received the case Thursday afternoon – but after two hours, the jurors left for the day without reaching a decision. They’ll be back at it beginning at 9:00 am this morning.

Prosecutors charge that Fitzpatrick murdered Zammitti because he was in love with Zammitti’s wife, Michele, and wanted to remove a romantic rival. They allege that the defendant then killed Chester Roberts, Michael Zammitti’s employee, because he stumbled onto the scene – a classic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But the defense insists that Fitzpatrick is an innocent man, and argues that the police neglected other, more obvious leads in its rush to judgment.

In Session will be live during verdict watch. Stay tuned.

–In Session staff