Jury Gets 'Jenny Jones' Case

A Michigan jury is deciding whether the Jenny Jones show was responsible for the murder of a gay man who appeared on the show.

Jury deliberations began early Thursday in the $71 million lawsuit against Jones and her show's producers, who are accused of driving a Michigan man to murder a gay guest.

The nine-person jury conferred about 5-1/2 hours on Thursday before being released. Deliberations are scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. ET on Friday

The lawsuit was filed by the family of Scott Amedure, who was slain in March, 1995, by Jonathan Schmitz three days after Amedure revealed his gay fantasies for Schmitz on the show.

Schmitz, now 28, appeared in an episode about same-sex secret crushes. The show was taped but never aired.

Jones, who testified earlier in the trial, was on hand for closing arguments Wednesday. Amedure family attorney Geoffrey Fieger said Schmitz suffered from manic depression and other emotional problems and cracked after learning his secret admirer was a man. He said Jones and the show's producers "did everything except pull the trigger."

Defense lawyer James Feeney told the jury that Schmitz was the only one to blame for Amedure's death.

Dring three days of testimony last month, Jones vehemently denied that the show tried to embarrass Schmitz and could not have known that he had mental problems.

Fieger raised his demands from $50 million in his closing arguments to the jury Wednesday. Fieger said the Jenny Jones show exploits people to make money from advertisements, and the only recourse the Amedure family has is to sue for cash.

Schmitz admitted to killing Amedure, but he did not testify in the case and sits in jail awaiting a retrial on second-degree murder charges.