The most unbelievable thing happened in court today

I have been covering crime for more than 20 years and I understand a defendant's right to a fair trial.

But I also understand the "public's right to know." Sometimes these two rights do battle.

Whenever there's a major crime, we try to cover the case in court. Any reporter can go to a public courtroom, but newspaper photographers and television camera crews must get permission from the judge to shoot photos and film.

Some judges hold hearings and rule yes or no. Some say yes and put limitations on how many photographs can be taken. Some judges just say no.

So today, Daily Breeze photographer Brad Graverson and I went to the Airport courthouse to cover the arraignment for John Wesley Ewell, the career criminal charged with killing an innocent couple in Hawthorne.

If what police and prosecutors allege is true, Ewell posed as a utility worker to get into the couple's house, bound and gagged Leamon and Robyn Turnage, strangled them and ransacked the place. Their bodies were found Friday. He was caught on Saturday.

It will have to rank as one of the most heinous crimes I will have covered since I started work as a reporter in the 1980s. Prosecutors have charged him with capital murder, which can lead to the death penalty.

Judge Keith Schwartz today accepted my paperwork and immediately signed approval that we could photograph Ewell. He let Brad and I sit in the jury box to cover the proceeding.

Schwartz had no problem with approving the order. He'd read the paper. He said he had seen Ewell's booking mug, which was released by the Sheriff's Department,  in both print and on the Internet. He said it a couple of times. In other words, photographing Ewell in court would not present any "identification" issues for his trial. His photo was already out there.

The judge also approved a cameraman from KTLA, who was going to record the proceeding for his station and two others who stayed out in the hallway.

From 1:30 to 3 p.m., we waited for the Ewell case, watching one defendant after another come into the courtroom to face Schwartz's wrath. There were a few drug abusers and and an identity thief. There was a rush of people coming through for arraignments that happened so quickly I wasn't able to hear what crimes they had allegedly committed.

Each sat next to a public defender or private attorney.

Finally, Deputy Public Defender Felicia Mizrahi arrived for the Ewell hearing. She saw the cameras and immediately voiced objection.

She said something about keeping Ewell behind a door. I heard that and said quietly, "What?" The judge again mentioned that Ewell's picture was already out there. Mizrahi's colleague responded that they would protect their client's rights.

And then it happened. Sure enough, as a bailiff prepared to bring Ewell from the court lockup area, another bailiff put something over a window in the door, blocking any view through it.The bailiffs and defense attorneys and others in the courtroom appeared to be laughing.

Ewell never entered the courtroom. They had him stand behind the door. You couldn't even see him through the window.

That's the shot up there. How ridiculous is that?