Sheppard v. Maxwell, 384 U.S. 333 (1966), was a United States Supreme Court case that examined a defendant's right to a fair trial as required by the Sixth Amendment and the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

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Sheppard v. Maxwell

In particular, the court sought to determine whether or not Sam Sheppard, the defendant, was denied fair trial for the second-degree murder of his wife, of which he was convicted, because of the trial judge's failure to protect him sufficiently from the massive, pervasive, and prejudicial publicity that attended his prosecution.

After suffering a trial court conviction of second-degree murder for the bludgeoning death of his pregnant wife, Sheppard challenged the verdict as the product of an unfair trial. 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.

An appeal, from the Ohio district court ruling, supported his claim. Then the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision.

When Sheppard appealed again, the Supreme Court granted certiorari.

Justice Clark delivered the opinion of the court:

This federal habeas corpus application involves the question whether Sheppard was deprived of a fair trial in his state conviction for the second-degree murder of his wife because of the trial judge's failure to protect Sheppard sufficiently from the massive, pervasive and prejudicial publicity that attended his persecution... We have concluded that Sheppard did not receive a fair trial consistent with the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and, therefore, reverse the judgement.^[1]

• F. Lee Bailey
• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 384
• Continuance