Much scholarly work in trial by media addresses the role of the media in holding society to account without as well as within the legal system and also analyses the potential part played by the press in courtroomSexual assaultin courtroom proceedings of high-profile trials. Whilst acknowledging the multiple roles played by the media in trials with a large public profile such as those that feature elsewhere in this collection, the critical-forensic linguistic interface (Statham, Redefining trial by media. John Benjamins, 2016) argues that the media also operates in a routine way in trials that are not necessarily high-profile and that could themselves be described as routine. Focusing on trials by jury in common law jurisdictions, this critical-forensic linguistic interface draws on models of analysis from forensic, critical and cognitive linguistics to construct the Spectrum of Trial by MediaSpectrum of Trial by Media. Comprised of three interrelated dimensions—direct, enhanced and reinforced trial by mediaReinforced trial by media—this model offers a framework to analyse the influence of the media on courtroom jurors and legal professionals at trial. Focusing on the crime of sexual assault, this chapter will outline and demonstrate the critical-forensic linguistic interface, setting out the three sections of the Spectrum and examining the role played by the ideological media discourse construction of sexual assault in the strategies of defence attorneys in sexual assault trials.