Mexico Holds First Public Trial

MONTEMORELOS, Mexico (AP) -- In a quiet courtroom in northern Mexico, a drunk driving case is making history: 19-year-old Alejandro Santana is before a judge, fighting charges he was drunk and crashed his car, killing a passenger and leaving another person a quadriplegic.

The case, which was nearing an end Friday, is the nation's first U.S.-style public trial, replacing a slow and secretive judicial process conducted on paper and moving Mexico a step closer toward reforms President Vicente Fox is seeking nationwide.

I didn't know that Mexico held only "paper trials." Details here from the AP via CNN.com.