Ellis Rubin Ronny Zamora

[edit] Ronny Zamora
When Rubin defended 15-year-old Ronny Zamora in 1977, for the murder of his 83-year-old neighbor in her Miami Beach home in a robbery, the trial was one of the first ever nationally televised. Zamora's defense was that he was intoxicated by violence on television. The defense became known as the "TV Intoxication" defense; Zamora claimed he could not tell the difference between fantasy and reality because of his obsession with Kojak and other violent shows since the age of five.[8][9]
Rubin tried unsuccessfully to provide evidence of the damaging effect of TV on young minds by issuing subpoenas to the TV star of Kojak, Telly Savalas, and to nationally known experts on the relationship between violence and TV. When Zamora was convicted and sentenced to life, he unsuccessfully appealed his sentence, blaming Rubin for the TV intoxication defense which he claimed made a joke of his trial. The federal appeals court ruled that evidence against Zamora was overwhelming and that Rubin had made the best of a weak case; the defense had in fact helped Zamora by focusing attention on Zamora's deprived background.[2]
Zamora was released from prison in 2004 after having served 27 years in prison.[9]