When jury selection in the Dan White trial began, Schmidt focused on making sure that no homosexuals made the jury. He asked potential jurors, "Have you ever supported controversial causes, like homosexual rights, for instance?"
In his brief, but emotional summation, Douglas Schmidt described White as "a man with a fine background" whose "pot had boiled over." He assured jurors that his client would suffer severe punishment, even if they returned a manslaughter, rather than a murder, conviction. "He will be punished," Schmidt said, "His child and his family will have to live with this. God will punish him....Just justice, that's all."