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Celia began a relationship with another slave named George, who was also owned by Newsom. George was aware of the relationship between Celia and Newsom, and asked her to stop the relationship or he would have nothing to do with her. Celia loved George and did not know how she was going to get out of sleeping with her master. She was forced to confront the dilemma alone. Celia did speak with Newsom's daughters about this situation, however they were no help. She also begged Newsom to leave her alone since she was so sick with the pregnancy, he would not listen. Therefore, she threatened that she would hurt him if he came to her again. According to the story, she did not threaten to kill him only to hurt him. Newsom approached her even as she was trying to tell him to stop and she struck him twice. The second blow killing him. Celia never meant to kill him only to protect herself. Again, she was alone with her dilemma. George, her lover, instead of trying to defend her, decided to protect himself and implicated her.
The judge, for this case, William Hall, knew he had a difficult decision to make. At the time of this trial, Missourians were divided concerning owning slaves. Judge Hall understood the outcome of this trial would reflect upon his views of slavery. I believe that at first he wanted Celia to have a fair trial. It was critical she have a good defense attorney and Judge Hall chose John Jameson, a fair man, one who was described as "an excellent judge of men", and an excellent trial lawyer. Jameson was also not involved in debates over slavery. Although he was a slave owner, he was considered a "good master".
The appointed jury consisted of twelve white men, they were all fathers, and five of them had daughters around Celia's age. Celia's attorney tried to establish that there was no motive, only self-defense. The witnesses for the prosecution were vague in their answers when put on the witness stand, and it was difficult asking most of them about Robert Newsom's sexual behavior.
