Richy Maria Jacob
‘Trial by Media’ is a true-crime documentary series that looks at landmark cases that have had a media impact. The first episode, ‘Talk Show Murder,’ deals with the death of Scott Amedure after he admitted that he had a crush on Jonathan Schmitz on ‘The Jenny Jones Show’. Three days later, Schmitz ended by taking the life of Scott Amedure over a letter written by him, which was reported to be sexually explicit.
What followed the murder, took the media by storm. There were sympathizers of Schmitz as he was believed to be harassed on national television, and there were also those who believed that it still did not warrant murder. The case also ended up being more than a trial to see if Schmitz was guilty or not. Not long after, it was a raging court battle between the Amedure family’s appointed attorney and the defense counsel of Warner Bros.
Geoffrey Fieger and James Feeney Did Their Jobs to the Best of Their Abilities
Geoffrey Fieger was appointed by the Amedure family to sue ‘The Jenny Jones Show’ by Warner Bros and to make them take responsibility for the death of Scott Amedure. In opposition to this, James Feeney was the lead defense counsel attorney to represent Warner Bros. The court trial brought forth various kinds of stories to the mix. Fieger was criticized for extending the opening statement for over two hours, while Feeney kept it to the point and short.
The jurors and judge, however, swayed to Fieger’s statements, which accused the talk show in question of not only having misled Schmitz into thinking wrong but also of not checking up on his background and mental state before he was allowed to come on the show. In Schmitz’s trial, he was convicted of second-degree murder – first-degree murder was taken off the table because he was bipolar and suffering from Graves’ disease. Though the effect of it wasn’t substantially proved, it still played a part.
Feeney played certain deposition videotapes that had Amedure’s mother and another talk show participant say that Scott had told them about having slept with Schmitz. Thus, Feeney stated that Jonathan wasn’t caught off guard or publicly humiliated as he willingly went along with Scott. However, this did not come in handy as it was second-party testimonials. Thus, Fieger won the case, which then mandated that Warner Bros. pay a sum of $25 million to the Amedure family for their suffering.
Post the trial, Feeney said, “This is Round 1 in a 15-round match. We are a long way away from a decision in this case.” It did turn out to be accurate as in a later appeal, Warner Bros. was found not responsible for having misled anyone into committing the murder. Thus, the Amedure family did not get the money. Fieger later fought a similar case from the ‘Jerry Springer Show’ where one participant named Nancy was found murdered by the co-participants in the show.
Despite His Age and Conditions, Geoffrey Fieger is a Proud Lawyer Even Today
Geoffrey Fieger continues to be a Civil rights lawyer in his own law firm, Fieger Law, which was founded by his father, Bernard Fieger. He still prefers to go by his title, “Geoffrey Fieger is a lawyer who wins,” and he remains a high-profile civil cases specialist. In fact, in 2019, he won a $ 23.5 million lawsuit for Amirah Whiten from St. Joseph Hospital due to medical negligence. Whiten allegedly suffered brain damage as a result of a prolonged C-section before her birth.
It doesn’t end here; Fieger, who once unsuccessfully ran for the Governor, is highly critical of President Donald Trump. In an interview with The Blade in 2020, he said: “How can anyone continue to relate to him? The only answer I can come up with is racism. Overt racism and xenophobia.” Coming to his personal life, this 74-year-old has long operated a top-rated hotel in Anguilla too – The Quintessence Hotel. The renowned lawyer resides with his wife, Kathleen, and their children in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. In 2017, he had stated his interest in running for the 2020 Presidential campaign, but he didn’t really go through with it despite his clear, vested interest in politics as well as his nation.
Things did change for Fieger in 2024 as it came to light he was unwell. On March 1, 2024, his wife actually announced that he had been diagnosed with a heart condition that required surgery, following which he sadly suffered a stroke. Thankfully, he is recovering and appears to be in rehab at the moment, so his active law firm business is currently being managed by his long-time partner as well as close friend James Harrington.
James Feeney is Also Still an Active Lawyer
James Feeney continues his law practice as a nationally famous trial lawyer in Michigan. From what we can tell, he serves the Dykema Law firm as of writing, where he still works with large litigation cases. Among his recent successful representations was in a class-action lawsuit in which an automobile company was sued for $ 2 billion. It’s thus safe to say he truly specializes in product liability, automobile litigation, as well as general commercial cases. As for his personal life, he prefers to stay on the down low at the moment, so all we know is that he is a dedicated family man as well as proud professional, which has also earned him the title of Superlawyer.
Read More: Where Is Jonathan Schmitz Now?
