Sunday 9 May 1999
By eBroadcast Staff and agencies.

Jury awards Amedure family $25M in shooting case

'No, see, it's not gay bashing if you don't actually hit the guy.'

Talk shows have never been known for their sensitivity, but in some cases, you'd think that maybe, just maybe, they'd try thinking ahead. Unfortunately for The Jenny Jones Show, however, the one person with a brain must have been on vacation the day the producers decided to bring Scott Amedure and Jonathan Schmitz on the show. You remember that one, right? Where Scott admitted to the entire nation that he had a huge crush on Jonathan? And then Jonathan, totally embarrassed and humiliated, went on a bender and shot Scott? It turned out to be one small step for homophobia, and one giant bullet for Jenny Jones to contend with.

In a decision that may change the face of trash TV, a jury decided to award the Amedure family more than $25 million over the loss of their son. How they got that figure is beyond us, but it breaks down like so: $6,500 for funeral/burial expenses, $5 million for Scott's pain, and $10 million to each parent for the loss of companionship. We're happy to know that Amedure's family will be compensated for their loss, which was terrible, but how do you put a price on a dead man's pain?

The defendants, of course, didn't respond to the decision with a smile. According to James "Bitter? Me?" Feeney, defense attorney, the decision probably won't make it through an appeal.

"As far as the jury's decision goes, the verdict speaks for itself. But I think by the end of the day, when we take this before a court of appeals, the appeals court will feel otherwise," Feeney said, wiping his sweaty palms on his Armani. "I feel there is a no way this will stand up in a court of appeals." And then he sat down and wondered how lawyers got that "heartless" stereotype.

According to the prosecution, Schmitz was duped by Jenny's producers. Although the defense fully denied the allegations (duh), the prosecution contended that Schmitz was not informed that the secret admirer was a man but that it could possibly be a man, woman, or transvestite. In fact, Schmitz had allegedly told the show he would not go on the air if the admirer was a man. Further, the show had not looked into Schmitz's psychological profile; had they done so, they would have found a man some considered to be mentally troubled. In effect, the prosecution claimed Jenny Jones "did everything but pull the trigger."

Schmitz, meanwhile, is awaiting a retrial. He was convicted in 1996, but the decision was thrown out in an appeal.

Here's what makes the least sense to us: Who thought it was a good idea to pull a guy out of a trailer park and tell him another man finds him attractive?