European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 10, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Saturday August 10,1991 the stars and stripes commentary James j. Kilpatric Smith deserves a trial free of Media circus in the Early hours of july 4, 1954, police in Bay Village Ohio received a Call Toi come at once to the Home of or. Samuel Sheppard. There they found Sheppard a pregnant wife Marilyn bludgeoned to death. As the country anticipates the trial of William Kennedy Smith for rape it May be useful to look Back at the trial of or. Sam. A jury found him guilty of the crime. He appealed and eventually the Case reached the . Supreme court. Justice Tom Clarks opinion As it May apply to Willie Smith is in Point. Sheppard denied the murder but police thought he was lying. More to. The Point so did a clamorous press. Overnight the Story became an International sensation. There were three newspapers in Cleveland then and they played the Story for All it was Worth. Radio and television joined the Hue and cry. Editorial writers leaped upon the police for their delay in filing charges. One editorial attributed the ineptness to a friendships relationships hired reporters delved into Sheppard a personal life. They discovered an extramarital love affair. The papers portrayed Sheppard As a Lothario. They revealed in his relationship with Susan h., and named a number of other women who allegedly were involved with him. The sensational pretrial publicity was pervasive. The Coroner mov Dan inquest to a High school gymnasium in order to accommodate the crowd. Editorial writers charged that Sheppard had been left free to go about his business a shielded by his family protected by a smart lawyer who has made monkeys of the on the night of july 30, Sheppard at last was arrested and formally charged. Police took him to the Bay Village City Hall where hundreds of people newscasters photographers and reporters were awaiting his arrival. The prosecution repeatedly made evidence available to the news Media which was never offered in the trial. The defense leaked stories of its own. Sheppard a lawyers accumulated five thick scrapbooks of press clippings about the notorious or. Sam. Sheppard finally went on trial in october 1954. The selection of impartial jurors turned into a Media circus. The pretrial publicity As Justice Clark would say later had been a massive pervasive and following the jury Sver Chr mfrs diet of guilty the Long process of appeals began. On june 6, 1966, the supreme court reversed the conviction. In its 8-1 decision the court found that Sheppard had been denied an. Atmosphere of a calmness and at the trial itself a bedlam most of in the pretrial revelations of the defendants sexual affairs never were admitted in evidence. The trial was fundamentally unfair. As a consequence or. Sam had been denied a due process under the 14th amendment. Just As the Media in 1954 shortened or. Samuel Sheppard to a Sam a so the Media now have abbreviated William Kennedy Smith to once again both prosecution and defense have leaked tips to an eager press. The charge against Willie is rape. The state would like to introduce in court allegations of his previous sexual assaults. Defense lawyers Nave let it be known that two can play the game of reputation. They May question. The complainant about her illegitimate child her methods of contraception and her psychological history. All the elements Are present for another Media circus. A salivating Public awaits details of High life in Palm Beach. The alleged attack occurred at the a Kennedy compound a with the most notorious of All . Senators physically on the scene. The Sheppard Case involved charges of obstruction of Justice. We have heard the same charges against friends and protectors of Willie. If the defendant is to have a fair trial and if the woman accuser is not to be further defamed this uproar has to be quieted now. Both the prosecution and the defense have been put under orders not to talk to the press. These orders ought to be strictly enforced. The trial might desirably be shifted to a Florida county far removed from Palm Beach up in the Pensacola Panhandle. For my own part 1 know no More of Willie Smith than i have read in the papers but i have spent a lifetime covering courts and i know poisonous Clouds of pretrial publicity when i see them. Willie May be a lecher but even a lecher deserves a fair trial. C Universal press Syndicate Tom Wickers Peru syndrome leading . To War again after Quick military Victory in the desert War president Bush exulted that the nation had a kicked the Vietnam syndrome a its supposed reluctance after defeat in Indochina to Send . Troops to fight elsewhere in the world. Did that conviction embolden Bush to embark on military intervention against the shining path in Peru or have presidents suffered More and for longer from what might be called a the. Peru syndrome a the idea that . Forces Are required and can prevail anywhere . Interests appear to be threatened or might be advanced desert storm May have strengthened such a Peru syndrome at least until the fighting ended. But developments since then in Iraq in Kuwait in saudi Arabia should have raised the question a even in the White House whether military intervention necessarily or even usually achieves the ends originally sought. Most often it has been some vague a communist threat a that had to be countered with troops As in Lebanon and Grenada. In Panama Bush sought to restore democracy to a country unaccustomed to it. In the Middle East the United states went to the Aid of Western Oil sources under the Fig Leaf of a resisting aggression. But in Peru the administration says . Forces and a $34 million program of assistance Are needed to thwart cocaine traffickers and the guerrilla forces that Aid them. The latter Are not supposed to be the main target though they re said to be a maoist a and what Little is known suggests similarity to the murderous Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. More than 50 . Military men including Green berets and Navy personnel will be sent to Peru a a prime source of coca a to train two combat battalions create a River patrol Force and rebuild and repair military helicopters. These Are intended to help the government in Peru regain the support of peasants and the control of provinces in the Andes. There shining path guerrillas a the most violent in South America a Are in virtual occupation. If peruvian forces Are to Stop the drug Trade they must fight the shining path Bush administration officials insist therefore that if . Military men Are to help Stop drug trafficking they must help peruvian forces in their War against the guerrillas. The officials add of course that . Troops will not fight they will be a a trainers Only As they originally were in Vietnam and As they have been for years in i Salvador. These forces however will be Allied to an unstable government and a brutal and repressive army whose promises to Reform can hardly be taken More seriously than those often heard from Al Salvador. The shining path is certainly not a Beacon of democracy and humanity but this is a dirty War in which support for either Side is Likely to entangle . Forces in atrocious abuses of human rights. Witness again Al Salvador. President Fujimori of Peru at first resisted then helped design . Military and Aid programs. With All due regard to him however his government May come to believe As have others in like cases that . Interest and . Aid amount to . Responsibility to win the War. That would not encourage the reforms Peru a government and army need to make. The guerrillas moreover May Well target even non combatant . Trainers with unpredictable political consequences for the White House and the . Public. Just such attacks were a major Factor leading to the expansion of the . Effort in Vietnam until a massive . Presence transformed that land and turned its civil War into an american War. Maybe 50 trainers and relatively few successors at manageable Cost will Block the shining path restrict the cocaine traffic put Peru on its feet and come Home unscathed a perhaps to a Parade up Broadway. That a the Peru syndrome Isnit it which the nation clearly Hasni to kicked. C the now York times
