Legal Procedures
Sheppard Murder Case
Name ___________________
1. What evidence do you find (throughout the video) in the Marilyn Sheppard murder
case that pointed to each of the following suspects?
Sam Sheppard Richard Eberling
2. What satisfied the police at the time that Eberling did not commit the murder?
3. What did the lab tests show when they were done years later?
How did this information change the outcome of the case?
4. Why did Sam Reese Sheppard have the body of his father exhumed?
What tests did he have run?
5. What crime was Eberling was in prison for?
What other crimes occurred while Eberling was present?
What was his explanation for this?
6. What was your opinion of Eberling’s explanation of the Sheppard murder?
Facts of the Case:
After suffering a trial court conviction of second-degree murder for the bludgeoning death of his
pregnant wife, Samuel Sheppard challenged the verdict saying that his trial has been unfair.
Sheppard, who maintained his innocence of the crime, alleged that the trial judge failed to protect
him from the massive, widespread, and prejudicial publicity that attended his prosecution. The Ohio
District Court ruled in support of his claim. However, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the
decision.
Go online and research the Sheppard v. Maxwell Case. Sites are listed below, however feel
free to research on your own.
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/sheppard/Sheppard.htm
http://www.samreesesheppard.org/
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/comm/free_speech/sheppard.html
1. What threshold must be crossed before a trial is said to be so prejudicial, due to
context and publicity, as to interfere with a defendant's Sixth Amendment due
process right to a fair trial?
2. Sheppard decided to appeal to the Supreme Court in Sheppard v. Maxwell.
What did this case examine and what was the importance of this case?
What was the decision of the Court and what were their reasons to support
the decision?
3. Samuel Reese Sheppard has spent considerable time trying to clear his father’s
reputation. What did he attempt to do and how it turn out?
He also sued the State of Ohio for his father’s wrongful imprisonment. How did this
case turn out?