and returned to Amedure's trailer. He then shot Amedure twice in the chest, killing him. After killing Amedure, Schmitz left the residence, telephoned 9-1-1, and confessed to the killing. Trial and sentencing of Schmitz At trial, defense attorneys argued that Schmitz, who had been diagnosed with manic depression (bi-polar disease) and Graves' disease, was caused to commit homicide by mental illness and humiliation, by way of the "gay panic defense". Schmitz was found guilty of second-degree murder in 1996 and sentenced to 25–50 years in prison, but his conviction was overturned on appeal. Upon retrial, he was found guilty of the same charge once again and his sentence was reinstated. Schmitz was released from prison on August 22, 2017, after being granted parole. Trial of the show producers In 1999, the Amedure family, retaining Geoffrey Fieger as lawyer, sued The Jenny Jones Show, Telepictures, and Warner Bros. for the ambush tactics and, as the Amedure family considered it, their negligent actions that resulted in Amedure's death. In May, the jury awarded the Amedures $29,332,686. The jury found that The Jenny Jones Show was both irresponsible and negligent, contending that the show intentionally created an unpredictable situation without due concern for the possible consequences. Time Warner's defense attorney later claimed the verdict would cause a "chilling effect" on the industry. The judgment was later overturned by the Michigan Court of Appeals in a 2-to-1 decision. The Michigan Supreme Court declined to hear the case. Media coverage The podcast Criminal included the murder of Scott Amedure and following trial of Jonathan Schmitz in their episode "Panic Defense" about the gay panic defense. The Jenny Jones controversy was also covered as the first episode in the Netflix series Trial by Media. In 2021, the controversy was covered in season 6 of the series How It Really Happened on the US TV network HLN in an episode titled "The Jenny Jones Show: Fatal Attraction". See also List of homicides in Michigan Homophobia Murder of Larry King References External links Court Opinion – Majority Authored Published Court Opinion – Dissenting Overthrown due to Bias Several articles regarding the Appeals Court Ruling from The Oakland Press Equality Michigan – LGBT Rights Organization Jonathan Schmitz at the Michigan Dept. of Corrections 1963 births 1995 deaths 1995 in LGBT history 1995 in Michigan 1995 murders in the United States American murder victims Gay men People from Pittsburgh People