ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, November 13, 1996 TAG: 9611130056
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: PONTIAC, MICH.
SOURCE: Associated Press
DEFENSE LAWYERS SAID their client was publicly humiliated on the talk show when his secret admirer turned out to be a man.
In a case that put ``ambush television'' on trial, a ``Jenny Jones Show'' guest Tuesday was spared a mandatory life in prison and convicted of second-degree murder for shooting a homosexual who revealed a crush on him during a taping.
In deciding against a first-degree murder conviction, the jury found that 26-year-old Jonathan Schmitz acted without premeditation in the 1995 slaying of Scott Amedure, 32.
Schmitz could get anywhere from eight years to life in prison, with the possibility of parole.
Jurors said they concentrated almost entirely on Schmitz's state of mind when he shot Amedure, who revealed an attraction to Schmitz three days earlier as a studio audience whooped and hollered.
Juror Joyce O'Brien said that for Schmitz, it was like ``someone pulls the rug out from under you. Even a sane person might have trouble dealing with all that stuff.''
The case had focused attention on ``ambush'' television and titillating daytime TV tactics, with Schmitz's lawyers arguing that the show misled him into believing he was going to meet the woman of his dreams.
They said he was publicly humiliated when his secret admirer turned out to be a man. That, coupled with his history of depression, suicide attempts, a thyroid ailment and other problems, left him incapable of forming the intent necessary to commit first-degree murder, his lawyers said.
The jury of seven men and five women deliberated all day Friday and about 21/2 hours Tuesday, rejecting the lesser charge of manslaughter.
``We all felt he had a definite mental problem and the show exacerbated that,'' said another juror, Dale Carlington.
Defense attorney James Burdick said Schmitz would appeal and predicted the judge would be lenient at Schmitz's sentencing Dec.4.
Amedure's brother, Frank Amedure Jr., said that he was disappointed by the conviction on a lesser charge and that his family would press ahead with its $25 million lawsuit against ``The Jenny Jones Show.''
``None of this would have happened if it wasn't for the Jenny Jones show's exploitation of homosexuality, a sensitive issue, and then exploiting those persons that had difficulty with the tolerance of homosexuality, such as Jonathan Schmitz,'' he said.
The show's producers denied misleading Schmitz to get him to go on the episode, which was titled, unbeknownst to Schmitz, ``Same-Sex Secret Crushes.'' Jones said she knows very little about how her show operates and usually gets the scripts the night before a taping.
The show was never aired but was played for the jury. In it, Amedure outlined sexual fantasies of Schmitz.
Schmitz reacted with an embarrassed smile but no apparent anger. ``I'm definitely a heterosexual, I guess you could say,'' he said.
Three days later, Schmitz bought a shotgun, drove to Amedure's mobile home nearby and killed him at his doorstep.
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Schmitzby CNB