PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) -- A jury decided today that "The Jenny Jones Show" was negligent in the slaying of a gay guest who admitted a crush on another man, ordering the producers to pay more than $25 million in damages.
The jury of five women and four men debated for just under seven hours over two days before returning the verdict.Scott Amedure's family had argued that a mentally ill Jonathan Schmitz was lured onto the talk show in 1995 believing he would meet a woman and was humiliated into murder when his secret admirer turned out to be Amedure. Schmitz has said he is heterosexual.
Lawyers for Warner Bros., the show's owner, argued Schmitz was told his secret admirer could be a man or woman, and the show played no role in Amedure's death. They also contend Schmitz might have killed Amedure because the two had a sexual encounter, a charge plaintiffs attorney Geoffrey Fieger denied.
Besides funeral expenses, jurors awarded $5 million in damages for Amedure's suffering before he was killed, $10 million to the family for the loss of their loved one's companionship, and $10 million for the loss of money Amedure would have earned.
Feiger had urged jurors to award $71.5 million in damages.
Before reaching the verdict, jurors watched the taped show, with Amedure, 32, talking about a sexual fantasy involving Schmitz and Schmitz's reaction when the fantasy is shown to him -- he buries his face in his hands.
Authorities said Schmitz bought a shotgun, drove to Amedure's trailer in Oakland County's Orion Township and shot him twice in the chest three days after the taping.
Schmitz was found guilty of murder in 1996, but his conviction was thrown out on appeal. His retrial is set for Aug. 19. His lawyers admitted he killed Amedure but contended the show humiliated Schmitz and he was fighting alcoholism, depression and a thyroid condition.
Jones attended Wednesday's closing arguments, her first visit to the courtroom since she sparred with Fieger on the witness stand in April.
"They solicited a victim. They picked a murderer and provided a motive," Fieger said.