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The defense wanted an overflow room\u2014a separate courtroom where the proceedings would be played via video feed\u2014and for the trial to be livestreamed. (New York state law bans cameras from most criminal proceedings, and come Tuesday, some of the need to incorporate independent journalists had ostensibly dissipated: No one who wanted a seat at the hearing appeared to have been turned down, and two of the Mangionistas, a trio of Mangione supporters who became tabloid sensations<\/a> in May after acquiring city press credentials, were among the court-approved press corps.) Their allegation that prosecutors and the court had collaborated in \u201chand-choosing the reporters permitted to attend the proceeding\u201d was a fairly eye-popping one, and the government responded in kind, offering a glimpse of the temperature around the looming trial.<\/p>\n \u201cThe defense\u2019s baseless accusation\u2026appears to be nothing more than an attempt to spread misinformation about this case and delegitimize the proceedings,\u201d prosecutor Joel Seidemann wrote in a response filing. (Seidemann previously worked under Mangione\u2019s attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo when she served as chief assistant district attorney of the Manhattan District Attorney\u2019s Office, adding an element of intrigue to their clashes for the scores of onlookers who have come to treat the legal personalities in the case as cult figures<\/a> in their own right.) In his view, \u201cthe media attention surrounding this case\u2014and the efforts of some of the defendant\u2019s supporters both to intimidate witnesses and to interfere with the functioning of the jury\u2014will place extraordinary pressure on witnesses and potential jurors alike.\u201d<\/p>\n