In what will have resonance among FACT cases the barrister for Barry George, cleared of killing presenter Jill Dando, has warned that huge publicity can distort investigations into high-profile cases.
William Clegg QC said the media pressure on the authorities to find the perpetrator could affect the police's objectivity.
Mr George, 48, was cleared on Friday of murdering Miss Dando, 37, on the doorstep of her London home in 1999.
The Crown Prosecution Service has said it was right to take the case to court.
Mr Clegg told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "All these cases that attract widespread publicity put huge pressure on the police and the prosecuting authorities to try to find the perpetrator and I sometimes feel that that pressure distorts the objectivity that would otherwise be present, were the publicity to be absent."
Mr Clegg was also involved in the case of Colin Stagg, who was cleared of the 1992 murder of Rachel Nickell.
He said there were lessons to be learned from the Dando case.
"In considering a case of this complexity the police and those responsible for the prosecution need to keep an open mind as far as possible as to who is responsible.... (more)
Source: BBC