TV Reporter Becomes Ill After Crime Scene Photos are Shown in Court
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A Cleveland TV Reporter might have helped sway the jury and the Reporter never said a word.
The WJW Reporter became ill as prosecutors showed crime scene photos of a prominent New Franklin Township couple bludgeoned to death with a sledgehammer.
Defense attorneys for Shawn Ford, the 20-year-old accused of killing Jeffrey and Margaret Schobert in 2013, raised concern that the reporter's reaction to the graphic crime scene photos could prejudice the jury.
Defense attorney Jonathan Sinn told Summit County Common Pleas Judge Tom Parker that he watched the Reporter from Channel 8 WJW kneel down, put her head down and "duck walk" over to a door to leave the courtroom.
Parker said he learned that the woman felt ill before coming into the courtroom and said the crime scene photos may have contributed to her leaving the courtroom.
"I don't believe the jury noticed that," the judge said.
