More than a verdict.

The Shepard murder trial is over, but its impact will linger for years

Until he attacked Matthew Shepard on October 6, 1998, Aaron McKinney was just an unknown young man in Laramie, Wyo., battling with drugs and alcohol. But his trial in October, which ended with his conviction on November 3, was, for many gays and lesbians, the most important trial of the decade. While the outcome did not repeal laws or change policies, McKinney's time in court, along with that of codefendant Russell Henderson, who pleaded guilty in March, will have lasting repercussions both on the way such cases are handled and on the way gays and lesbians view themselves. The trial delivered an emotionally satisfying vindication for Shepard's death and brought closure to the Shepard family and to the public, who had followed the grim case for the past year. Here are some of the major themes to emerge from the trial.

THE SYMBOLIC DEMISE OF THE "GAY PANIC" DEFENSE. The trial dealt a blow to one of the staples of any defense in a gay bashing, that the victim's sexual advances panicked the defendant and led to the attack. McKinney's defense team told jurors in opening statements that a neighborhood bully abused McKinney at age 7, "forced him to suck on a penis ... and commit sex acts with another boy," and then spread the word that McKinney was gay. The lawyers said that Shepard "came on to" McKinney during the robbery, "grabbed his balls" and "licked his ear," and triggered "five minutes of emotional chaos" that resulted in Shepard's beating. But Judge Barton Voigt ruled it "inadmissible" under Wyoming law. Voigt said McKinney's sexual history was not "appropriate in a case that turns out to be a premeditated gay bashing or robbery poorly disguised as homosexual rage."

After the trial Voigt said his ruling was "not intended to send a social or political commentary. My ruling was based on Wyoming law." Strictly speaking, says University of Wyoming Law School professor Gerald Gallivan, Voigt's ruling is not binding, even on other Wyoming district court judges. However, Gallivan says courts in the future will likely cite Voigt's ruling because of "the high-profile nature" of the Shepard case.

THE DEBATE OVER THE DEATH PENALTY. When prosecutor Cal Rerucha indicated that he would seek the death penalty for McKinney and Henderson, he unleashed a debate among gays and lesbians over support for that form of punishment. An ad hoc network of gay activists lobbied national gay organizations to condemn the death penalty, saying capital punish-merit was contrary to the values of the gay movement. In February a group of 11 gay organizations, including the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, issued a statement condemning the death penalty in the Shepard case.

THE POWER OF PARENTAL MERCY. McKinney escaped the death penalty because Shepard's mother, Judy, agreed to a sentencing arrangement before the jury could consider this punishment. The next day McKinney was sentenced to two consecutive life terms in the Wyoming State Penitentiary, with no possibility of appeal or parole. The agreement was hailed by editorial writers throughout the country as an example of parental mercy triumphing over vengeance. Matthew's father, Dennis Shepard, specifically addressed the death penalty in a six-page statement he read to the court after McKinney was sentenced. In his statement Dennis Shepard said that he, his wife, and his son "believed there were crimes and incidents that justified the death penalty. I would like nothing' better than to see you die, Mr. McKinney. However, this is the time to begin the healing process. To show mercy to someone who refused to show any mercy."

THE CONTROVERSY OVER THE GAG ORDER. A permanent gag on public comment by all parties to the defense, including McKinney, has stirred a controversy that ensures that the questions surrounding the case will never be fully answered. This provision of the sentencing agreement was not publicized until after the trial ended. The gag quickly drew criticism in the national media and from the Wyoming American Civil Liberties Union and the Wyoming Press Association. [For the Shepards' response, see page 36.]

THE JAILHOUSE CODE OF HONOR. As part of his agreement in the spring with prosecutors, Henderson agreed to testify during the McKinney trial. Ultimately he refused. Prosecutors later said it was a question of his "survival" in the penitentiary, where inmates do not take kindly to "snitches." (In a different show of jailhouse behavior, McKinney was reportedly laughing and joking with fellow inmates after his conviction.) Two lead investigators in the Shepard case, Sgt. Robert DeBree of the Albany County, Wyo., sheriffs department and Cmdr. David O'Malley of Laramie's police department, spoke with reporters after the trial. According to their account, Henderson would have testified that he and McKinney targeted Shepard for being gay and that McKinney "feminized" his voice when they approached Shepard.

THE UPHILL BATTLE FOR HATE-CRIME LAWS. In the wake of Shepard's murder, legislation to increase penalties for hate crimes against gay men and lesbians was introduced in 26 states. Only one of these bills--in Missouri--passed. After McKinney's conviction Judy and Dennis Shepard, accompanied by DeBree and O'Malley, traveled to Washington, D.C., to lobby for federal hate-crimes legislation. Their effort failed. A hate-crimes measure was removed from a budget bill in a congressional conference committee just weeks after the trial, with the approval of the Republican congressional leadership.

RELATED ARTICLE: Just parents

The Shepards spent the trial as any mom or dad would--thinking of their son

For activists and journalists, Aaron McKinney's trial marked the opportunity to debate theories on the "gay panic" defense and the justice of the death penalty. For Matthew Shepard's parents, the trial was a much more personal affair. It marked the first time they saw their dead son's bloody clothes.

"I had seen some of the photographs before but not Matt's effects," Judy Shepard says of the traumatic moment. "Not the clothes, the shoes, or the watch. That was really hard, to have to see those things."

Dennis Shepard's mind was on Matthew as well. When he ended the trial with a statement that, soon afterward, was E-mailed throughout the world, he thought only of his son. "I kept seeing Matt," he says. "I kept seeing him on that road."

Even when the Shepards agreed to the sentencing arrangement that spared McKinney's life--he would avoid the death penalty but would not have any chance of parole--the decision was motivated by personal reasons. "I have no feelings for [McKinney]," Judy Shepard says. "We made the decision based more on giving ourselves a chance to live a life without him always in the background."

Now, two months after the trial, the Shepards' focus is on healing. They have been attacked by activists who say the sentencing agreement struck with McKinney violates his civil rights by permanently barring him (and his attorneys) from speaking to the press, A weary Judy Shepard counters that every stipulation in the agreement was first put forth by the defense and that she and her husband added nothing. But as she joins join Dennis and son Logan for the holidays, it's clear she is not thinking about the trial, McKinney, or her critics. "It's over," she says. "Just let it be over." --Jon Barrett

Curtis is a freelance writer in Los Angeles who covered McKinney's and Henderson's trials for The Advocate.