Apus Court Cases: Gideon V Wainwright

April, 2006

Gideon v. Wainwright 1963 C

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A M EN D M E NT

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense

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G i d e o n C h a r g e d f o r b r e a k i n g a n d E n t e r i n g

On June 3, 1961 a burglary occurred at the Bay Harbor Pool Room in Panama City, Florida. The burglar broke into the building by smashing a window and then proceeded to smash a cigarette machine and a jukebox and took money from both. Witnesses reported seeing a man by the name of Clarence Earl Gideon in the poolroom earlier that morning and police followed up on the lead. Soon after, Mr. Gideon was found nearby with alcohol and money in his pock-

ets and the police arrested him for breaking and entering. While in jail Gideon studied law and

Caption describing picture or graphic.

Clarence Earl Gideon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Clarence_Earl_Gideon

law had been violated. The dispute of this case was whether the state of Florida violated Gideon’s’ sixth amendment right to counsel. In Gideon’s case this clause was reinforced by the fourteenth amendment. Gideon was not provided with assistance of counsel for his criminal defense. The case took place on January 15, 1963. -Molly Gonzales & Nick Abraham

discovered that his right to due process of

1 4 TH A M EN D M EN T 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

G i d e o n ’ s Due to the fact that Mr. Gideon was a vagrant he did not have the funds to hire a lawyer and therefore asked the court to appoint him with one. Gideon reasoned that he should be appointed a lawyer because

R e q u e s t the sixth amendment states that everyone is entitled to a lawyer. The judge, Robert McCrary Jr., denied Gideon’s request and said that a lawyer would only be appointed to a defendant who was charged with a capital

R e j e c t e d crime. With his request denied, Gideon was forced to defend himself in court without a lawyer and due to lack of knowledge and experience was not able to adequately defend himself. Due to his poor defense, Gideon (Cont. on page 2)

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Accused of stealing by Cook • $65 • 12 beers • 12 cokes • Some wine But was later discredited by Turner

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Court, in reply, agreed to hear his appeal. The case was called Gideon v. Cochran. The case's original name, Gideon v. Cochran, was changed to Gideon v. Wainwright, after Louie L. Wainwright replaced H.G. Cochran as the director of the Florida Division of Corrections, thus changing the trial’s name to the more commonly known Gideon v. -Matt Marshall &

was found guilty of breaking and entering and petty larceny. Gideon was then sentenced to five years in a Florida prison. Once in jail, he wrote to an FBI office in Florida, but was denied help. January 1962 he mailed a petition to the Supreme Court asking the nine justices to consider his complaint against . The Supreme

"you cannot have a fair trial without counsel."

Daniel Sanchez

Justice Hugo Black required all American courts to make a lawyer available to any person charged with a felony if they could not pay for a lawyer.

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On January 15th, 1963, Gideon v. Wainwright began. Gideon’s assigned representative was Abe Fortas. Arguing against Gideon was Bruce Jacob, an assistant Flordian attorney general. Fortas’s argument was clear and simple, “a common

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man with no training in law cannot go up against a trained lawyer and win”. Jacob’s retort was that the issue was a state issue and not a federal issue. Jacob said thousands of convictions would have to be reconsidered if the law changed.

G i d e o n ’ s As a result of Gideon’s original trial, 2,000 convicts were released in Florida because the state government did not have the time or the money for retrials of these convicts. Although they were free, Gideon was still trapped within the law. W. Fred Turner was the new lawyer for his

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During the next two months Gideon’s trial was played out. It was concluded in March 18th, 1973. Unanimously the jury agreed that Gideon’s conviction should be set aside. -Mike Mcmahon & Breanna Van Otterloo

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second trial. On August 5, 1963 the retrial occurred, Where Turner discredited eyewitnesses and exposed Gideon’s innocence. Henry Cook’s original accusation towards Gideon was disproved by Turner’s statement from the cab driver who drove Gideon to the bar where he was arrested. The cab driver

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said that Gideon was not carrying alcohol, disproving Cook’s accusation. After one hour from the beginning of the session, Gideon’s trial was acquitted. He resumed life and got married. January 18th, 1972 he died in Fort Lauderdale at the age of 61. -Brian Adsit & Kristen Graham

A unanimous Supreme Court ruled in Gideon's favor & recognized a constitutional guarantee that all accused persons have a right to be represented by a lawyer.

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As a group we felt the Supreme Court came to the proper decision. Their decision clarifies and enforces the constitution, and defines a fair trial. It is only fair to have a retrial after the courts came to the initial conclusion. Gideon did not deserve to be in jail serving his time, and rightfully was acquitted.