  It was Daviess firm belief that Wilkinson “[has] been, for years, a pensioner of Spain, and [has] held secret intelligence with that power; and you [Wilkinson] were engaged in Burr’s conspiracy and deserted him.”  These insights by Daviess are particularly important, as in truth Jefferson’s embrace of Wilkinson as an informant and witness skewed the facts and ultimately affected the course of the trial. The sudden change in Jefferson’s attitude toward the situation is difficult to explain, as he went from inaction to extreme effort in dealing with Burr. As Jefferson postured against Spain, perhaps he was willing to allow Burr latitude in threatening to invade Mexico, but as the situation changed to where war was no longer seen as inevitable and public opinion turned against Burr, he found a way to satiate his “hunger for evidence of something loathsome to believe of Burr.”  Regardless of the specific cause of Jefferson’s interest, as the trial in Richmond began, he was heavily invested in seeing a guilty verdict.
One of the most highly publicized and significant aspects of the trial was the presiding judge, Chief Justice John Marshall. As head of the judicial branch and a stalwart Federalist, he had a record of high profile showdowns with Thomas Jefferson. One of the first of these was the case Marbury v. Madison, regarding the last-minute appointments of justices by John Adams. Jefferson refused to recognize Marbury’s commission because he believed that there was a technical and procedural blunder in delivering it, aside from his political bias against the appointment.  Marshall ruled against Madison, effectively against Jefferson, in upholding the commission. His decision set one of the foundations of United States law, in that “a law repugnant to the Constitution is void, and that courts, as well as other departments, are bound by that instrument.”  The ruling was a blow to Jefferson, as Marshall limited his power and strengthened the role of the judiciary. In addition to this and other court rulings, Marshall and Jefferson were known to be enemies politically and, one could say, personally. Marshall was unhappy and angry to have the duty of administering the oath of office to Jefferson for his first term, because Jefferson was someone he thought could ruin the country.  This occurred after the presidential election of 1800, when Jefferson and Burr had tied under the electoral college system. Despite pleas from Hamilton, Marshall refused to endorse Jefferson because of their bitter differences regardless of his ambivalent feelings towards Burr.  Following all of this was Marshall’s work, The Life of George Washington. “The single greatest source of personal antagonism between the two statesmen,” Jefferson felt that it was a skewed Federalist history and a propaganda tool, and devoted a significant amount of time refuting the series.  With these and other sources of tension in their past, the trial of Aaron Burr would prove to be a politicized, personal, and high-stakes event in the careers of both, with understandably significant effects on how the executive and judicial branches defined their powers and responsibilities.
