WHITE PLAINS N.Y. -- 'The People vs. Jean Harris' was an accurate but sometimes boring portrayal of the trial of the woman convicted of killing 'Scarsdale Diet' author Herman Tarnower, the trial's prosecutor said Friday night.
Elaborating for the first time publicly on his feelings about the trial, Westchester County prosecutor George Bolen, 34, said he thought the television broadcast Thursday and Friday nights on NBC-TV accurately reflected the prosecution's case.
The second episode, Bolen said, showed that Mrs. Harris' testimony did not agree with the facts in the case.
Bolen said he was 'a little bored' by Thursday's show but he thought Peter Coyote, who portrayed Bolen, 'did a good job. He sounded like he had a lot of conviction in his voice.'
Bolen, who lives in Mt. Pleasant and who tried the case, said the trial was 'unusual.
'It will never happen again to me,' Bolen said of the notoriety he received.
Mrs. Harris was convicted Feb. 24 of the murder of Tarnower, 69, at his estate in Purchase estate on the evening of March 10, 1980.
The television drama was written using the court transcript and a recreation of the White Plains courtroom.
Actress Ellen Burstyn played Mrs. Harris in the program, broadcast for two hours Thursday and one hour Friday night. Martin Balsam portrayed her attorney,Joel Aurnou.
Aurnou, who watched the broadcast with Mrs. Harris at the Bedford Hills correctional facility, said he would have 'no specific comment' about the program but suggested he may take legal action against NBC or the producers of the show.
'It was a very difficult thing being in that room (jail cell) tonight,' Aurnou said.
He said he was assessing possible legal action because of the way the defense case was 'short changed, because of the way they used the transcript.'
Bolen said he liked the way he was protrayed but said he did not feel he resembled Coyote.
'I have empathy for the defendant in this particular case but I knew so much about the case,' he said.
'I might have had empathy as I would have with any other defendant, but with what I knew about her and Dr. Tarnower, because of the way he died, I had to expect and press for the verdict.
'The grand jury returned an indictment. The jury returned a verdict. I believe it was the right one,' he said.
Bolen noted that in part one the show, Mrs. Harris had been portrayed 'sympathically' during her direct examination by Aurnou.
'Up until then, Mrs. Harris was portrayed a certain way in the media with certain insights into her character. What we did on cross-examination was develop her state of mind and what was going on in her head at the time of the killing,' he said.
