10 Trials That Caused Massive Backlash

10 Trials That Caused Massive Backlash

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re breaking down trials that, for better or worse, caused a public stir.

Amanda Knox

The 2007 killing of British student Meredith Kercher in Perugia became a global spectacle when her American roommate, Amanda Knox, and Knox’s Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were arrested. Their 2009 convictions sparked widespread outrage in the United States, where many viewed the case as a miscarriage of justice driven by character assassination. The legal odyssey only escalated: a 2011 appeals court overturned the convictions and ordered their release, only for Italy’s Supreme Court in 2013 to annul that acquittal and send the case back for retrial. When Italy’s Supreme Court issued a final acquittal in 2015, the ordeal ended, but disagreement did not. The case was a defining collision of media frenzy, public judgment, and judicial uncertainty.

West Memphis Three

The 1993 murders of three young boys in West Memphis shattered the small Arkansas community and ignited national panic. Teenagers Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley Jr. were swept up in the investigation, targeted because of Misskelley’s shaky confession and a community-wide panic over Satanic rituals. Physical evidence tying them to the crime scene was virtually nonexistent, yet Echols received a death sentence and the others life without parole. As doubts grew, a movement formed, amplified by filmmakers and celebrities who highlighted the corrosive influence of "Satanic Panic." Subsequent DNA testing undermined the state’s case, leading to the 2011 Alford plea. This rare legal maneuver allowed the men to maintain their innocence while technically pleading guilty in exchange for time served.

Kyle Rittenhouse

Amid protests and unrest following the police shooting of Jacob Blake in August 2020, 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse traveled to Kenosha, Wisconsin, stating he intended to protect property and offer first aid. During a series of confrontations, he shot three individuals, killing two and injuring another. Charged with multiple felony counts—including first-degree reckless homicide and first-degree intentional homicide—Rittenhouse went to trial in November 2021. Prosecutors argued his presence was reckless and provocative, while the defense maintained he acted in lawful self-defense. When the jury acquitted him on all charges, reactions split sharply. Critics saw the verdict as an endorsement of armed civilian intervention, while supporters viewed it as a straightforward application of self-defense law.

Casey Anthony

The disappearance of two-year-old Caylee Anthony in 2008 and the subsequent prosecution of her mother, Casey Anthony, became a media obsession. Prosecutors asserted Anthony killed her daughter to escape parental responsibility, bolstered by circumstantial evidence and behavior the public found inexplicable. The defense countered with a theory of accidental drowning and family concealment. When the jury acquitted Anthony of murder and manslaughter in 2011—convicting her only for lying to police—public reaction bordered on disbelief. Many cited her delay in reporting Caylee missing as a damning indicator, but jurors later stated they did not find the forensic evidence sufficiently conclusive to prove how the child died.

Central Park Five

In 1989, five Black and Latino teenagers—Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise—were arrested for the brutal assault of a jogger in Central Park. Their convictions hinged on confessions taken after high-pressure interrogations without lawyers present. The trials unfolded amid intense racial anxiety and sensational press coverage. All five were convicted, with Wise serving the longest time behind bars. In 2002, serial offender Matias Reyes confessed and his DNA matched the crime, leading to the convictions being vacated. Public fury shifted from the defendants to the system itself, resulting in a $41 million settlement with the City of New York in 2014.

Sacco & Vanzetti

Italian immigrant anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were arrested in 1920 for a payroll robbery and double homicide in Massachusetts. Their trial unfolded during the First Red Scare, where suspicion of radicals and foreigners shaped public life. Critics argued that the case reflected bias more than evidence, with circumstantial proof overshadowed by fear of their political ideology. For years, international activists and intellectuals fought for a retrial, insisting the proceedings revealed systemic prejudice. Despite global protests, their executions in 1927 went forward, provoking massive demonstrations and cementing the pair as symbols of judicial scapegoating.

George Zimmerman

17-year-old Trayvon Martin was fatally shot in February 2012 by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman. The absence of an immediate arrest ignited national outrage and catalyzed the formation of Black Lives Matter. Zimmerman was eventually charged with second-degree murder. While the case sparked a national debate over Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, the defense focused on a traditional self-defense claim, arguing that Zimmerman was pinned to the ground — and thus out of options. The acquittal in 2013 provoked grief and mass protest. For many, the verdict demonstrated how race, suspicion, and fear intersect in fatal outcomes — and highlighted the deep divide in how the law evaluates threat and culpability.

The Scottsboro Boys

In 1931 Alabama, nine Black teenagers were accused of sexually assaulting two white women aboard a freight train. Tried before all-white juries, eight received death sentences… despite contradictory testimony and a recantation by one accuser. The case triggered two Supreme Court rulings that reshaped American law. Those rulings were Powell v. Alabama in 1932, requiring access to counsel, and Norris v. Alabama in 1935, banning racially discriminatory jury selection. Yet the young men endured years of retrials and imprisonment. Posthumous pardons in 2013 offered cold comfort, underscoring how belated vindication rarely repairs generational harm.

O. J. Simpson

The 1994–95 prosecution of O.J. Simpson for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman became the most watched trial in modern history. Prosecutors presented extensive forensic evidence, including blood matching Simpson at the scene. But the defense seized on investigative failures, as well as the racial bias of LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman, to undermine the case. The “not guilty” verdict split the United States along racial lines. Many white Americans believed overwhelming evidence had been ignored. Conversely, many Black Americans saw it as a rare instance of a Black defendant prevailing against an inherently biased justice system. At the end of the day, the trial proved that “the truth” isn’t always just about the hard facts — it’s about the life experiences that follow us into the courtroom.

The Simi Valley Defendants

In March 1991, a bystander’s camera captured something the world couldn’t look away from: LAPD officers brutally beating motorist Rodney King. For many, the footage felt like an open-and-shut case—an undeniable visual proof of police violence. But when it came time for the trial of the four officers involved, the proceedings were moved out of the city to the predominantly white suburb of Simi Valley. When a jury with no Black members returned “not guilty” verdicts on nearly every charge in April 1992, Los Angeles erupted in days of violence and fire that left dozens dead. While a later federal trial did eventually lead to civil rights convictions for two of the officers, the damage was done.

Which trial shocked you the most? Are there any we missed? Be sure to let us know in the comments!