CRIMINOLOGIA MIDIÁTICA E DIREITO PENAL: UMA ANÁLISE a LUZ DA OPINIÃO PÚBLICA E DOS DIREITOS FUNDAMENTAIS

The present study addresses the relativization of the fundamental rights of the accused, focusing on cases that gain wide repercussion in the media. It sought to know how the influence of the media reflects on the due process of law and what are its consequences in the sphere of Brazilian Criminal Law. The objective was to critically reflect on the developments of media criminology in the context of Brazilian criminal procedure, focusing on the guarantee of fundamental rights and judicial independence. The methodology adopted was qualitative, descriptive and exploratory, with the purpose of critically analyzing the impacts of the media on the Brazilian criminal process and its interference in the protection of fundamental rights, in particular, the right to the presumption of innocence. It was possible to understand that media criminology increases the scope of traditional criminology, by including the media as a determining variable in the study of criminality. The aforementioned jurisprudence makes it evident that the judiciary has faced this dilemma carefully, sometimes identifying the moral damage caused by the media, understanding that the little repercussion does not compromise, by itself, the impartiality of the trial. By characterizing cases as denied habeas corpus or requests for waivers, it is evident that the moral impacts caused by media exposure are not always fully identified or repaired by the justice system, which leaves the feeling of justice weakened. It was concluded that media criminology, even if it is not a current phenomenon, gains especially dangerous contours nowadays of hyperconnectivity, instant journalism and social networks. This scenario harms not only the rights of the accused, but the credibility of the justice system itself.