It was the first time that a defense of "temporary insanity" was used in American law, and it was one of the most controversial trials of the 19th century.

[1][2][3] Daniel Sickles was a U.S. representative from the State of New York, and Philip Barton Key II was the Attorney General for the District of Columbia.

[2][5][7] The trial was the subject of extensive media coverage, which created its own controversies and destroyed Teresa's reputation.

[1][4] On the of evening February 24, 1859, Daniel Sickles received an anonymous letter that described in the affair in detail.

The prosecutor was Robert Ould; the defense consisted of lawyers James T. Brady, Edwin Stanton, and John Graham.

[1] The defense appealed to the idea of an "unwritten law" that homicide was justifiable in the case of adultery.

The State of California prosecuted the Daily Evening Bulletin for obscenity after it published the "disgusting" confession.

[1][4] A play dramatizing the murder, Sickles, or the Washington Tragedy opened in Boston within a week of the trial's conclusion.

It was well received,[1] being described by The Boston Ledger as "a very close and correct dramatization from the facts [that] offers with it a good moral".

[10] After the trial, Sickles and his wife apparently reconciled, which angered the members of the public who had supported him.