Sheppard v. Maxwell

Facts

[These facts are important to understand what happened and how complicit the police and court were in this circus] Marilyn, D's pregnant wife, was bludgeoned to death in the upstairs bedroom of their lakeshore home. D claimed that he saw the assailant and even fought with him in the house and outside and had been rendered unconscious a number of times. Officials focused suspicion on D. Dr. Gerber, the Coroner, is reported -- and it is undenied -- to have told his men, 'Well, it is evident the doctor did this, so let's go get the confession out of him.' Police officers interrogated D at some length, confronting him with evidence, and demanding explanations. Asked by Officer Shotke to take a lie detector test, Sheppard said he would if it were reliable. D made himself available for frequent and extended questioning without the presence of an attorney. Publicity began almost immediately. Stories repeatedly stressed D's lack of cooperation with the police and other officials. D reenacted the tragedy at his home before the Coroner, police officers, and a group of newsmen, who apparently were invited by the Coroner. D's performance was reported in detail by the news media, along with photographs. The newspapers also played up D's refusal to take a lie detector test and 'the protective ring' thrown up by his family. A front-page article charged that somebody is 'getting away with murder.' Another page-one editorial was headed: 'Why No Inquest? Do It Now, Dr. Gerber.' The Coroner called an inquest the same day and subpoenaed D. It was staged the next day in a school gymnasium. In the front of the room was a long table occupied by reporters, television and radio personnel, and broadcasting equipment. The hearing was broadcast with live microphones placed at the Coroner's seat and the witness stand. A swarm of reporters and photographers attended. D was brought into the room by police who searched him in full view of several hundred spectators. D's counsel was present during the three-day inquest but were not permitted to participate. When D's chief counsel attempted to place some documents in the record, he was forcibly ejected from the room by the Coroner, who received cheers, hugs, and kisses from ladies in the audience. D was questioned for five and one-half hours about his actions on the night of the murder, his married life, and a love affair with Susan Hayes. One article 'disclosed that scientific tests at the Sheppard home have definitely established that the killer washed off a trail of blood from the murder bedroom to the downstairs section,' a circumstance casting doubt on D's accounts of the murder. No such evidence was produced at trial. Articles stressed D's extramarital love affairs as a motive for the crime. They named a number of other women who were allegedly involved with him. The testimony at trial never showed that D had any illicit relationships besides the one with Susan Hayes. On and on and on it went. Eventually, D was arrested, and perp walked in front of hundreds of people, newscasters, photographers, and reporters who were awaiting his arrival. He was immediately arraigned -- having been denied a temporary delay to secure the presence of counsel -- and bound over to the grand jury. The intensity of the publicity grew even larger. There are five volumes filled with salacious clippings from each of the three Cleveland newspapers. This does not include radio and television articles. The case came on for trial two weeks before the November general election at which the chief prosecutor was a candidate for common pleas judge and the trial judge, Judge Blythin, was a candidate to succeed himself. All three Cleveland newspapers published the names and addresses of the veniremen. As a consequence, anonymous letters and telephone calls, as well as calls from friends, regarding the impending prosecution were received by all of the prospective jurors. A long temporary table was set up inside the courtroom. Twenty representatives of newspapers and wire services were assigned seats at this table by the court. Behind the bar railing, there were four rows of benches. These seats were likewise assigned by the court for the entire trial. The first row was occupied by representatives of television and radio stations, and the second and third rows by reporters from out-of-town newspapers and magazines. One side of the last row, which accommodated 14 people, was assigned to D's family, and the other to Marilyn's. The public was permitted to fill vacancies in this row on special passes only. News media also used all the rooms on the courtroom floor, including the room where cases were ordinarily called and assigned for trial. Private telephone lines and telegraphic equipment were installed in these rooms so that reports from the trial could be speeded to the papers. Station WSRS was permitted to set up broadcasting facilities on the third floor of the courthouse next door to the jury room, where the jury rested during recesses in the trial and deliberated. Newscasts were made from this room throughout the trial, and while the jury reached its verdict. One television broadcast carried a staged interview of the judge as he entered the courthouse. In the corridors outside the courtroom, there was a host of photographers and television personnel with flash cameras, portable lights and motion picture cameras. This group photographed the prospective jurors during selection of the jury. After the trial opened, the witnesses, counsel, and jurors were photographed and televised whenever they entered or left the courtroom. D was the main attraction 10 minutes before each session began; he was surrounded by reporters and extensively photographed for the newspapers and television. A rule of court prohibited picture-taking in the courtroom during the actual sessions of the court, but no restraints were put on photographers during recesses, which were taken once each morning and afternoon, with a longer period for lunch. All of these arrangements with the news media and their massive coverage of the trial continued during the entire nine weeks of the trial. The daily record of the proceedings was made available to the newspapers, and the testimony of each witness was printed verbatim in the local editions, along with objections of counsel, and rulings by the judge. Pictures of D, the judge, counsel, pertinent witnesses, and the jury often accompanied the daily newspaper and television accounts. The newspapers published photographs of exhibits introduced at the trial. The jurors themselves were constantly exposed to the news media. Every juror except one testified at voir dire to reading about the case in the Cleveland papers or to having heard broadcasts about it. Individual pictures of prospective members appeared daily. During the trial, pictures of the jury appeared over 40 times in the Cleveland papers alone. The court permitted photographers to take pictures of the jury in the box, and individual pictures of the members in the jury room. One newspaper ran pictures of the jurors at D's home when they went there to view the scene of the murder. The commentary was even more amazing during trial. The court refused to examine the jury for prejudice related to the extreme stories appearing all over the news. D made motions for change of venue, continuance, and mistrial, but they were denied. No action was taken by the court. D ascertained that during deliberation the jurors had been allowed to make telephone calls to their homes every day while they were sequestered at the hotel. The jurors were permitted to use the phones in the bailiffs' rooms. The calls were placed by the jurors themselves; no record was kept of the jurors who made calls, the telephone numbers or the parties called. Dl urged that this ground alone warranted a new trial, but the motion was overruled, and no evidence was taken on the question. D of course was convicted and then filed habeas corpus petitions. 

Issues

Rule of Law

Holding and Decision

Legal Analysis

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