The prosecutor in the case was 30-year-old Charles Phelps Taft II, son of Chief Justice of the United States and former President William Howard Taft and brother of the future Senator Robert A. Taft. Although he had lost his last big case against another bootlegger, Taft was seen as a man with a bright political future. The trial made national headlines for a month, as Remus defended himself on the murder charge with the help of Charles Elston. His first wife and daughter stayed by him; his step-daughter testified against him and depicted Remus as an abusive husband. Remus pleaded transitory insanity, which he had used previously during his time as a defense lawyer, emphasizing his distress at his wife's betrayal. The jury deliberated only nineteen minutes before acquitting him. The State of Ohio committed Remus to an insane asylum since the jury found him insane, but prosecutors were thwarted by their previous claim (backed up by the prosecution's three well-known psychiatrists) that he could be tried for murder because he was not insane, and Remus was freed from the asylum after only 7 months.