The Case of Dr. Samuel Sheppard

"The massive, pervasive and prejudicial publicity attending petitioner's prosecution prevented him from receiving a fair trial consistent with the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment."

With that sentence, Sam Sheppard, after 12 years — 10 of them in prison — was legally an innocent man

Justice Tom Clark read on: "Despite his awareness of the excessive pretrial publicity, the trial judge failed to take effective measures against the massive publicity which continued throughout the trial or to take adequate steps to control the conduct of the trial."

Speaking for eight of the justices — all but Hugo Black — Clark listed a litany of errors. He said Blythin should have postponed the trial or moved it to a county "not so permeated'' with publicity."

He noted that, weeks before the trial, newspapers published the names and addresses of those called for jury duty. "As a consequence, anonymous letters and telephone calls, as well as calls from friends, were received by prospective jurors." The jurors were "thrust into the role of celebrities."

Witnesses and jurors alike "ran a gantlet of reporters and photographers every time they entered or left the courtroom." Although Blythin barred witnesses from the courtroom, "during the trial the full verbatim testimony was available to them in the press. This completely nullified the judge's imposition of the rule."

One end of the press table was less than three feet from the jury box. The presence of reporters inside the bar "precluded privacy" between Sheppard and his attorneys. (Clark liked alliteration, witness "pervasive publicity attending petitioner's prosecution prevented...."

The media carried rumors such as Walter Winchell's broadcast that a New York woman said she had borne Sheppard's child. They carried stories about damaging testimony that supposedly would be presented but never was, such as evidence that Sheppard had affairs with various women and that Marilyn had told people he was a "Jekyll-Hyde."

Even if Blythin hadn't sequestered the jury, the opinion said, he should have given jurors stronger warnings than ``I would suggest to you and caution you'' not to read or listen to coverage because "I am sure we will all feel much better."

And when Corrigan objected that jurors had heard the Winchell broadcast Blythin should have done more than say, "Well, even so, Mr. Corrigan, how are you ever going to prevent these things in any event?"

The justices' opinion accepted the Dorothy Kilgallen claim that the judge had told her Sheppard was "guilty as hell" and the defense contention that Coroner Gerber had said on the morning of the crime, "Well, men, it is evident the doctor did this, so let's go get the confession out of him."

Sheppard gets new
trial. (Cleveland Press)

And, counter to the statements of law enforcement officials and newspaper editorials, it declared: "Sheppard made himself available for frequent and extended questioning without the presence of an attorney."

The opinion went on for 11,000 words. At the end it directed the District Court to order "that Sheppard be released from custody unless the state puts him to its charges again within a reasonable time," and with the ring of finality with which the Supreme Court, speaks, it concluded:

"It is so ordered."

Sam Sheppard was free. Sam Sheppard was innocent — until proved guilty. Now he faced another trial. It could happen again.