It started with a single, rambling letter from a mother who believed her son had been harmed at a local daycare. No one knew that this small spark would ignite the longest trial in American history, a legal marathon that lasted seven years, cost millions, and basically broke the lives of everyone involved.
We’re talking about the McMartin Preschool case.
If you weren't around in the 1980s, it's hard to describe the sheer level of panic that gripped the country. People were terrified. This wasn't just a local news story in Manhattan Beach, California; it became a national obsession. It fundamentally changed how we look at child testimony, the "Satanic Panic," and the terrifying speed at which the legal system can spiral out of control.
When Justice Takes Seven Years
Seven years. Think about that for a second. In the time it took for the McMartin case to reach its first set of verdicts, a kid could go from kindergarten to middle school. The trial itself—the actual time spent in a courtroom—lasted two and a half years. By the time it was over in 1990, the total bill for the prosecution sat at roughly $15 million. Adjusted for today's money, that is an astronomical figure for a single case.
But why did it take so long?
Part of it was the sheer scale of the allegations. At its peak, hundreds of children were being interviewed. The indictment originally contained 115 counts of child abuse. The pre-trial hearings alone dragged on for 18 months. It was a logistical nightmare. You had defense attorneys fighting every single piece of evidence, prosecutors trying to manage dozens of traumatized witnesses, and a jury that was essentially forced to put their entire lives on hold for years.
The longest trial in American history wasn't long because it was complex in a corporate way. It was long because it was messy. It was built on a foundation of "recovered memories" and leading questions that made the evidence-gathering process a total disaster.
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The Satanic Panic and the Power of Suggestion
You can’t talk about the McMartin trial without talking about the social climate of the 1980s. This was the peak of the "Satanic Panic." People honestly believed there were underground cults operating out of suburban basements.
The kids in the McMartin case started telling stories that sounded like they came straight out of a horror movie. They talked about secret tunnels under the school, being taken to churches for rituals, and even seeing animals killed. The problem? Investigators couldn't find any tunnels. They couldn't find any physical evidence of these massive, elaborate crimes.
Kee MacFarlane, a social worker at Children’s Institute International, conducted many of the interviews. Looking back, those interviews are now a textbook example of how not to talk to kids. She used puppets. She used leading questions. She basically told the kids that "other kids" had already told her the truth, so they should too.
It was a feedback loop.
When you pressure a child and imply there’s a "right" answer, they'll often give it to you just to please the adult in the room. This wasn't just bad police work; it was a systemic failure. The prosecution relied on these statements because they didn't have much else. No DNA. No photos. Just the words of children who were being coached—sometimes unintentionally—by terrified parents and overzealous investigators.
The Human Cost of the Longest Trial in American History
Ray Buckey and his mother, Peggy McMartin Buckey, were at the center of the storm. Ray spent five years in jail awaiting trial because his bail was set so high. Five years. Without a conviction.
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Honestly, it’s hard to imagine the psychological toll. The school was demolished. The family's reputation was vaporized. Even after the jury returned "not guilty" verdicts on most counts and deadlocked on others, the damage was done. A second trial for Ray Buckey on the deadlocked counts lasted another several months, ending again in a mistrial.
The prosecution, led by District Attorney Ira Reiner (who later admitted the evidence was thin), eventually gave up. Not a single person was ever convicted of a crime.
Why the Jury Couldn't Convict
Juries are supposed to look for "beyond a reasonable doubt." In a case this long, doubt doesn't just creep in; it takes up permanent residence. By the end of the trial, the jurors were exhausted. They had listened to hundreds of hours of testimony. They saw the inconsistencies in the kids' stories. They realized that the physical evidence—like the supposed tunnels—simply didn't exist.
One of the most famous moments in the trial was when a defense expert showed that the "tunnels" the kids described were actually just old plumbing trenches or natural soil formations. It was a turning point. It made the jury realize that the stories, as horrific as they were, didn't match reality.
Lessons Learned (The Hard Way)
The McMartin legacy is pretty dark, but it changed how the legal system functions today. We don't do things the same way anymore.
First, child interview techniques were completely overhauled. Professionals now use "neutral" interviewing protocols. You don't use puppets. You don't use leading questions. You don't suggest that "other kids told me X." The goal is to let the child tell their story in their own words, without any outside pressure.
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Second, it served as a massive warning about the dangers of moral panics. When the public demands an arrest before the facts are in, the justice system often bends under the pressure. The McMartin case is a reminder that "common knowledge" (like the existence of satanic cults) is often just mass hysteria.
Third, we learned about the limits of the trial process. A trial that lasts seven years isn't a search for truth; it's an endurance test. It's almost impossible for a jury to maintain focus and objectivity for that long. It’s why you see judges today pushing much harder to keep timelines tight.
What to Do If You're Interested in Legal History
If this story fascinates you, don't just stop at a Wikipedia summary. The nuances are in the transcripts and the long-form reporting from the era.
- Watch "Indictment: The McMartin Trial." It’s a 1995 movie that, while dramatized, captures the claustrophobic and intense nature of the defense’s battle.
- Read "The McMartin Preschool Abuse Case: What Really Happened?" by investigative journalists who covered it in real-time.
- Research the "NICHD Investigative Interview Protocol." This is the modern gold standard for child interviews that was developed largely as a response to the failures of the 80s and 90s.
- Look into the "Satanic Panic" of the 80s. Understanding the cultural context makes the insanity of the McMartin case much easier to grasp. It wasn't happening in a vacuum; it was part of a larger, nationwide delusion.
The longest trial in American history remains a haunting example of what happens when fear outpaces facts. It serves as a permanent footnote in legal textbooks—a cautionary tale for prosecutors, a victory for defense rights, and a tragedy for the families and children who were caught in the middle of a storm that never should have started.
Make sure to look at the California v. Buckley court records if you want to see how the legal arguments shifted over those long years. Seeing the actual motions filed by the defense gives you a much clearer picture of how they slowly dismantled a case that once seemed airtight to the public.