A judge is expected to rule Monday whether a jury will decide a wrongful imprisonment case on behalf of Dr. Sam Sheppard. The younger Sheppard wants a non-jury trial and a judge to decide the case.
Attorneys representing the state of Ohio want a jury trial.
The doctor insisted that a bushy-haired intruder beat his wife to death and then knocked him unconscious. However, a jury still convicted Sheppard of the murder. Upholding a lower court's ruling that Sheppard did not receive a fair trial because of pretrial publicity, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the guilty verdict in 1964 and ordered a new trial. Dr. Sheppard was acquitted in his second trial in 1966. He died four years later of liver disease.