Day 17: A book you've read that changed your view on something.
I'm going to have to say that book is called "Mockery of Justice" by Sam Reese Sheppard, son of Marilyn Sheppard and Dr. Sam Sheppard.
I was exposed to this book back in the mid 90s. At first, the Akron Beacon Journal was running a week long story about the decades old mystery surrounding the murder of Marilyn Sheppard in the family's Bay Village home. Dr. Sheppard was accused of the crime, he was tried, convicted, and spent several years in prison before the United States Supreme Court overturned his conviction. Dr. Sheppard's trial, according to the high Court, was inordinately biased by a rabid media who was hell bent on seeing an affluent Dr. pay for the murder of his wife.
Dr. Sheppard always insisted he was knocked unconscious by an intruder in the home and steadfastly maintained his innocence. You may recall, this story was the inspiration for both the television show and the movie, "The Fugitive", and the Supreme Court hearing that overturned Dr. Sheppard's conviction is the case that made F. Lee Bailey famous.
Any way you slice the pie, Dr. Sheppard was railroaded, unfairly convicted, and his trial was conducted in a, to quote a Supreme Court Justice, "circus-type atmosphere". Jury was not sequestered and were free to read sensationalized newspaper stories and anyone had access to talk to them. Worse yet, when Dr. Sheppard was arrested, all investigation into the murder of Marilyn Sheppard ceased.
Decades later, it was discovered, through DNA testing, that blood found at the crime scene, mixed with Mrs. Sheppard's blood did not belong to Marilyn or anyone else who lived in the Sheppard home. It was, in fact, a match to a man who had been employed as a window washer by the Sheppards. This man had also been caught previously attempting to burglarize the Sheppard home while he was supposed to be working there. There were leads leading right up to this man when the case was originally investigated that were ignored because everyone was convinced that Dr. Sheppard was the killer.
Why? Media bias. The biggest media source came from blue-collar Cleveland,OH, and it was a joy for them to see an affluent Dr. get persecuted publicly.
This story changed my view of the media. I used to believe something just because I saw it on the news or read it in the newspaper. This is no longer the case.
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