ABOUT THE SHEPPARD EXPERIENCE 1954

Sam Reese Sheppard continues to seek justice for his mother, his father, and his family.

In this year of the 65th anniversary of the murder of Sam’s mother and the wrongful conviction of his father, Sam Reese Sheppard invites the public to experience the daily headlines of the Cleveland Press. The Cleveland Press is widely understood to have sensationalized the case, in many ways driving how the legal process played out.

Dr. Samuel H. Sheppard was convicted in an unfair trial in 1954, during which the state asked a jury to sentence Dr. Sheppard to death. Dr. Sheppard was convicted of second degree murder and given a life sentence. That conviction was thrown out by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1966 when it ruled in Sheppard V. Maxwell, holding that “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 Fourteenth Amendment.” Dr. Sheppard received a new and fair trail at which he was acquitted. The murder of Marilyn Reese Sheppard remains unsolved.

Sam Reese Sheppard invites the public to experience again the “Massive, pervasive and prejudicial publicity” his family experienced in 1954. He further invites dialog and comparisons as to how the legal system and the media deal with crime today, 65 years later. Comments on the daily posts are welcome on The Sheppard Experience 1954 Facebook and Twitter social media platforms.