Trial of the century is an idiomatic phrase used to describe certain well-known court cases, especially of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. It is often used popularly as a rhetorical device to attach importance to a trial and as such is not an objective observation. As attorney F. Lee Bailey and The Washington Post observed in 1999:
Calling court cases "the trial of the century" is a traditional bit of American hyperbole, like calling a circus "The Greatest Show on Earth". Nearly every juicy tabloid trial in our history was called the "trial of the century" by somebody. "Every time I turn around, there's a new trial of the century," said defense attorney F. Lee Bailey. "It's a kind of hype," he says. "It's a way of saying, 'This is really fabulous. It's really sensational.' But it doesn't really mean anything." [1]
In 1907, Harry K. Thaw was tried for the murder of Stanford White. [1] Irvin S. Cobb, a contemporary reporter, explained why the trial fascinated the country so much:
You see, it had in it wealth, degeneracy, rich old wasters, delectable young chorus girls and adolescent artists' models; the behind-the-scenes of Theatredom and the Underworld, and the Great White Way ... the abnormal pastimes and weird orgies of overly aesthetic artists and jaded debauchees. In the cast of the motley show were Bowery toughs, Harlem gangsters, Tenderloin panderers, Broadway leading men, Fifth Avenue clubmen, Wall Street manipulators, uptown voluptuaries and downtown thugs. [1]
There are countless trials that have been labeled "the trial of the century" by the press; it is beyond the scope of this article to list them here. However, some legal scholars have labeled a few trials as "trials of the century". These cases are useful in this context for listing some of the most important trials, which include:
John Christopher Depp II is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for three Academy Awards and two BAFTA awards. His films, in which he has often played eccentric characters, have grossed over $8 billion worldwide, making him one of Hollywood's most bankable stars.
Nathan Freudenthal Leopold Jr. and Richard Albert Loeb, usually referred to collectively as Leopold and Loeb, were two American students at the University of Chicago who kidnapped and murdered 14-year-old Bobby Franks in Chicago, Illinois, United States, on May 21, 1924. They committed the murder – characterized at the time as "the crime of the century" – hoping to demonstrate superior intellect, which they believed enabled and entitled them to carry out a "perfect crime" without consequences.
Clarence Seward Darrow was an American lawyer who became famous in the 19th century for high profile representations of trade union causes, and in the 20th century for several criminal matters, including the Leopold and Loeb murder trial, the Scopes "monkey" trial, and the Ossian Sweet defense. He was a leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union and a prominent advocate for Georgist economic reform. Darrow was also well known as a public speaker, debater, and writer. He is considered by some legal analysts and lawyers to be the greatest lawyer of the 20th century. He was posthumously inducted into the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame.
Lizzie Andrew Borden was an American woman who was tried and acquitted of the August 4, 1892 axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts. No one else was charged in the murders, and, despite ostracism from other residents, Borden spent the remainder of her life in Fall River. She died of pneumonia at the age of 66, just days before the death of her older sister, Emma.
Media circus is a colloquial metaphor, or idiom, describing a news event for which the level of media coverage—measured by such factors as the number of reporters at the scene and the amount of material broadcast or published—is perceived to be excessive or out of proportion to the event being covered. Coverage that is sensationalistic can add to the perception the event is the subject of a media circus. The term is meant to critique the coverage of the event by comparing it to the spectacle and pageantry of a circus. Usage of the term in this sense became common in the 1970s. It can also be called a media feeding frenzy or just media frenzy, especially when the media coverage itself is covered.
Leslie Louise Van Houten is an American convicted murderer and former member of the Manson Family. During her time with Manson's group, she was known by aliases such as Louella Alexandria, Leslie Marie Sankston, Linda Sue Owens and Lulu.
Charles Denton "Tex" Watson is an American murderer who was a central member of the "Manson Family" led by Charles Manson. On August 9, 1969, Watson, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Susan Atkins murdered pregnant actress Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski, Abigail Folger, and Steven Parent at 10050 Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles. The next night, Watson traveled to Los Feliz, Los Angeles, and participated in the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. Watson was convicted of murder in 1971 and sentenced to death. As a result of a 1972 California Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality in the state of the death penalty, he avoided execution but has remained incarcerated ever since.
Gerald Leonard Spence is a semi-retired American trial lawyer and author. He is a member of the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame, and is the founder of the Trial Lawyers College. Spence has never lost a criminal case before a jury either as a prosecutor or a defense attorney, and did not lose a civil case between 1969 and 2010. He is considered one of the greatest lawyers of the 20th century, and one of the best trial lawyers ever. He has been described by legal scholar Richard Falk as a "lawyer par excellence".
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Thrill Me: The Leopold & Loeb Story is a musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Stephen Dolginoff. It is based on the true story of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, the so-called "thrill killers" who murdered a young boy in 1924 in order to commit "the perfect crime." The story is told in flashbacks, beginning with a 1958 parole hearing.
Blood Relations is a psychological murder mystery written by Sharon Pollock. The play is based on historical fact and speculation surrounding the life of Lizzie Borden and the murders of her father and stepmother, crimes with which Borden was arrested for, though acquitted from and found not guilty.
The trial of Oscar Pistorius for the murder of Reeva Steenkamp and several gun-related charges in the High Court of South Africa in Pretoria opened on 3 March 2014. Pistorius was a leading South African runner who won attention as an athlete with a disability competing at a high level, including at multiple Paralympic Games and the 2012 Summer Olympics. Steenkamp, a model, had been Pistorius's girlfriend for three months. In the early morning of Thursday, 14 February 2013, Steenkamp was shot and killed by Pistorius at his Pretoria home. Pistorius acknowledged that he shot Steenkamp, but he said that he mistook her for an intruder. Pistorius was taken into police custody and was formally charged with murder in a Pretoria court on 15 February 2013. The entire trial was broadcast live via audio, and parts of the trial were also broadcast live via television.
The Lizzie Borden House is notorious for being the home of Lizzie Borden and her family, and it is the location of the 1892 unsolved double murder of Lizzie's father and stepmother Andrew and Abby Borden. It is located on 230 Second Street in the city of Fall River, Massachusetts.
Richard A. "Dick" Harpootlian is an American attorney and politician serving as a member of the South Carolina Senate from the 20th district. He served as the chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party from 1998 to 2003 and again from 2011 to 2013. He also previously served as solicitor for the Fifth Judicial Circuit of South Carolina from 1991 until 1995.
The Murdaugh family was an affluent American family that has lived in the Lowcountry region of South Carolina since the 18th century. Three generations named Randolph Murdaugh served consecutively as circuit solicitor for the state's 14th judicial district between 1920 and 2006; the family's status led locals to call the five-county district "Murdaugh Country". In 1910, Randolph Murdaugh Sr. founded the civil litigation firm that is now The Parker Law Group in Hampton, South Carolina, which now specializes in personal injury litigation.
State of South Carolina v. Richard Alexander Murdaugh was the trial of American former lawyer Alex Murdaugh for the murder of his wife, Maggie, and their 22-year-old son, Paul, on June 7, 2021. The trial in the fourteenth circuit of the South Carolina Circuit Court began on January 25, 2023, and ended on March 2 with a guilty verdict on all four counts. Murdaugh, who had pleaded not guilty, was sentenced to two life sentences to run consecutively without the possibility of parole. Murdaugh's attorneys filed a notice of appeal, but a new judge rejected the bid for a new trial.
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Within a year it was going to become the 'trial of the century.'
The case of Charles Manson and his 'family' may be the 'trial of the century'.
Some commentators and several media outlets have called this spectacle the "trial of the century" since it revealed..
"The trial of the century in South Carolina": That's what former U.S. Attorney Pete Strom called the double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh
