Leopold and Loeb would have been sentenced to death for their crimes if it weren't for the help of Clarence Darrow, a very famous lawyer. Darrow had the boys plead guilty. By doing this, the boys did not have to appeal to a jury, but instead they had to plea directly to the judge, who they knew would have a harder time declaring the death penalty. Had they plead not guilty; the state of Illinois would have had a high chance of finding evidence of them killing Bobby Franks. If they weren't found guilty of that and hanged, then the court house would have a second chance to sentence them to death on the charges of kidnapping. Rather than deny that the boys committed the crime, Darrow pleaded that the boys suffered mental illness. He claimed that Leopold was a paranoiac and Loeb was a schizophrenic. Even though they had such high intelligences, their emotional intelligences weren't past the age of seven. He helped prove his point by stating how Loeb had pushed Leopold into having sexual encounters with him at the age of only fourteen. He also explained how the boy's bad home lives had played a vital role in their mental states. At one point, Darrow pleaded for 12 hours straight to convince the court room that the death penalty was not needed.
Darrow was very passionate about his case. He fought with all his heart and soul to prevent the death penalty, even crying at one point. One of the main things Darrow did during the trial was to convince the Judge that there was something even worse than what the boys did to Bobby. "I can think of taking two boys . . . irresponsible, weak, diseased . . . penning them in a cell, checking off the days, the hours and the minutes, until they be taken out and hanged," he claimed (Sann). At this, Loeb shuttered and Leopold went hysterical, causing him to be removed from the court room. Darrow was very effective in convincing the blood-thirsty audience that these criminals would indeed be severely punished for their terrible doings. In total, the trial lasted for over a month, in which there were over 100 witnesses.
Darrow was very passionate about his case. He fought with all his heart and soul to prevent the death penalty, even crying at one point. One of the main things Darrow did during the trial was to convince the Judge that there was something even worse than what the boys did to Bobby. "I can think of taking two boys . . . irresponsible, weak, diseased . . . penning them in a cell, checking off the days, the hours and the minutes, until they be taken out and hanged," he claimed (Sann). At this, Loeb shuttered and Leopold went hysterical, causing him to be removed from the court room. Darrow was very effective in convincing the blood-thirsty audience that these criminals would indeed be severely punished for their terrible doings. In total, the trial lasted for over a month, in which there were over 100 witnesses.