Editing Sam Sheppard (section)

=== Media ===
Sheppard's trial began October 18, 1954, and lasted nine weeks.<ref>{{cite news |title=Nowhere to Hide |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |author=Michael Farquhar |date=October 3, 1993 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1993/10/03/nowhere-to-hide/95842a96-889d-43c4-8cde-d804fed81435/ |accessdate=March 3, 2022}}</ref> The murder investigation and the trial were notable for the extensive publicity. Some newspapers and other media in Ohio were accused of bias against Sheppard and inflammatory coverage of the case, and were criticized for immediately labeling him the only viable suspect. A federal judge later criticized the media, "If ever there was a trial by newspaper, this is a perfect example. And the most insidious example was the ''[[Cleveland Press]]''. For some reason that newspaper took upon itself the role of accuser, judge, and jury."{{sfn|Neff|2001|p=230}}

It appeared that the local media influenced the investigators. On July 21, 1954, the ''Cleveland Press'' ran a front-page editorial titled "Do It Now, Dr. Gerber", which called for a public [[inquest]]. Hours later, Dr. Samuel Gerber, the coroner investigating the murder, announced that he would hold an inquest the next day.{{sfn|Neff|2001|p=85}} The ''Cleveland Press'' ran another front-page editorial titled "Why Isn't Sam Sheppard in Jail?" on July 30, which was titled in later editions, "Quit Stalling and Bring Him In!"<ref>[http://www.bsos.umd.edu/gvpt/gvpt339/sheppard.html The Sam Sheppard Case] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040907234728/http://www.bsos.umd.edu/gvpt/gvpt339/sheppard.html |date=September 7, 2004 }}, umd.edu; accessed April 29, 2017.</ref><ref>{{cite news|work=USA Today|title='Wrong Man' makes case for Sheppard's innocence|date=November 8, 2001|url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/books/2001-11-08-wrong-man.htm|access-date=May 23, 2010}}</ref> That night, Sheppard was arrested for a police interrogation.{{sfn|Neff|2001|pp=101–102}}

The local media ran salacious front-page stories inflammatory to Sheppard that contained no supporting facts or were later disproved. During the trial, a popular radio show broadcast a report about a New York City woman who claimed to be his mistress and the mother of his illegitimate child. Since the jury was not [[jury sequestration|sequestered]], two of the jurors admitted to the judge that they heard the broadcast but the judge did not dismiss them.{{sfn|Neff|2001|pp=151–152}} From interviews with some of the jurors years later, it is likely that jurors were contaminated by the press before the trial and perhaps during it.{{sfn|Neff|2001|pp=166–168}} The U.S. Supreme Court later stated that the trial was surrounded by a "carnival atmosphere".<ref>[http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=384&invol=333 ''Sheppard v. Maxwell''], 384 U.S. 333, 358 (1964) (U.S. Supreme Court)</ref>