LESSON : THE SHEPPARD MURDER TRIAL Pre-Trial Investigation
On the evening of July 3, 1954. Dr. Sam Sheppard and his wife, Marilyn, hosted a dinner party at their suburban Cleveland home in By Village, Ohio. After their guests left, Marilyn retired to the upstairs bedroom. Sam remained downstairs to watch the late movie and fell asleep on. the couch in the living room.
As Sam would tell it, he awoke in the middle of the night, believing he heard his wife calling him. When he reached the bedroom, he was struck from behind and fell unconscious to the floor. Upon recovering, he discovered that Marilyn had been brutally murdered. He raced downstairs and saw a bushy-haired man in a white shirt exiting through the back door. Sam chased the intruder across the lawn and lunged at him, but he was overpowered and knocked unconscious a second time.
When he revived Sam staggered up the stairs and re-examined his wife, confirming his worst fears. Then he called his neighbor, Bay Village Mayor, Spencer Houk. Mayor Houk and his wife, Esther, arrived shortly thereafter and notified the Bay Village police.
Sam was questioned briefly by local authorities and then taken to Bay View Hospital for treatment of his injuries; which included bruises, chipped teeth, and fractured vertebra in his neck. He was.sedated to relieve the pain and trauma.
Later that day, detectives frdm the Cleveland police force, who had joined the investigation, arrived at the hospital to gather more information.
They asked Sam what he had done in the two to three hours between Marilyn's death and his phone call to Spencer Houk. He didn't know: They also asked why Sam's seven year old son hadn't awakened during the ordeal or why the dog hadn't barked at the "stranger" in their house. He didn't know. In addition, they asked what had happened to the shirt Sam had been wearing that evening. Once again, Sam didn't know.
Then the Cleveland detectives asked about Sam's relationship with Marilyn, specifically whether he had had any extramarital affairs or whether he and Marilyn had ever discussed getting divorced. Sam denied both allegations, but the detectives didn't believe him. After questioning Sam that day, they recommended arresting him for the murder of his wife. However, the Bay Village authorities, who knew him personally, refused to do so.
For the next month. the Cleveland media waged an active campaign against Sam Sheppard. Readers were dismayed to learn that he had refused to take a lie detector test and that he was conferring with a famous criminal defense attorney. Front-page headlines in the Cleveland Press prodded local authorities to act:
Political Cartoon Analysis: Trial by the Press
On the day Dr. Sam Sheppard was arrested, an editorial entitled "Why Isn't Sam Sheppard in Jail?" appeared on the front page of the Cleveland Press. It was one of a number of editorials and cartoons published by editor Louis Selzer, who was convinced of Sheppard's guilt. Selzer believed the Bay Village authorities were dragging their feet and he feared Sheppard's social prominence and family connections would get him off the hook.
The cartoon below is one of a series appearing in the Cleveland Press in the weeks following the murder of Sheppard's wife, Marilyn.
Due to copyright restrictions, we cannot publish the cartoon. However, here is a brief description:
Covering the lower two-thirds of the page are two hands in hand-cuffs. Written-on the left hand is the word "Officials" on the right hand is written "Police." In the upper third of the cartoon in the center is a man hidden behind a cloth which has "Murder Suspect" written on it.
Flanking this character on the left are two "Lawyers" and on the right four "Friends," all of whom are holding up the cloth which shields the "Murder Suspect." The caption for the cartoon is "Handcuffs on the Wrong People?"
Questions:
1. With what issue does this cartoon deal?
2. What is the cartoonist's point of view, concerning this issue?
3. If you were a potential juror, what, if any, effect would daily front page editorials and cartoons of this nature have on you?
4. Describe a political cartoon, from the defendant's perspective.