Law Gideon Vs Wainright Essay Research Paper

Law: Gideon Vs Wainright Essay, Research Paper

The framers formed this country with one sole document, the Constitution, which they wrote with great wisdom and foresight. This bountiful wisdom arose from the unjust treatment of King George to which the colonists were subject. Among these violations of the colonists’ rights were inequitable trials that made a mockery of justice. As a result, a fair trial of the accused was a right given to the citizens along with other equities that the framers instilled in every other facet of this country’s government. These assurances of the citizens’ rights stated in the bill of rights. In the Sixth Amendment, it is stated that, “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right…to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.” A first reading of this phrase one might be think that this right, that which gives a person accused of a crime to have lawyers for his defense, is common knowledge being that it is among the most basic rights given to the citizenry of the public. However, the simple manner in which this amendment is phrased creates a “gray area”, and subject to interpretation under different circumstances. The legitimacy of the right to mount a legal defense is further obscured by the Fourteenth Amendment which states, “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.” As a result, many questions begin to arise which seek to determine the true right of the accused to the assistance of counsel. Should legal counsel be provided by the government if the accused lacks the funds to assemble a counsel for his defense. Or, on the other hand, does this amendment set the responsibility of assembling a defensive counsel on the accused even if he or she lacks the funds to do so. Also, do the states have the right to make their own legislation regarding the right of the indigent accused to have counsel appointed to them in the state trials, or does the Fourteenth Amendment prevent this. The Supreme Court was faced with answering these questions in the case of Gideon v. Wainwright.

In June of 1961, Clarence Earl Gideon, a fifty year old petty thief, drifter, and gambler who had spent much of his life in and out of jail was arrested in Panama City Florida. He was charged with breaking into a poolroom one night in an effort to steal beer, Coke, and coins from a cigarette machine (Goodman 62).

From the outset, Gideon insisted that he was innocent. His trial commenced in a Florida courtroom in August of that year. Gideon informed the Judge that he was not prepared for the trial to begin because he had not assembled a legal counsel in his defense. He then requested that the court appoint counsel to represent him (Goodman 62). The Judge responded with the following statement:

Mr. Gideon, I am sorry, but I cannot appoint Counsel to represent you in this case. Under the laws of the State of Florida, the only time the Court can appoint Counsel to represent a defendant is when that person is charged with a capital offense. I am sorry, but I will have to deny your request to appoint Counsel to defend you in this case” (372 U.S. 335)

The trial continued, and Gideon directed his defense; but his efforts were futile as one could expect from a common man with no legal education or experience. The jury convicted him of the felonious charges and gave Gideon the maximum five year sentence (Goodman 62).

At the time of Gideon’s trial in the Florida court the right to legal counsel ensured by the Sixth Amendment was only applicable to federal cases, and states had the right to handle the matter of the appointment of legal counsel to the defense in state cases at their discretion (Asch, 135). This practice was an effect of the outcome of the United States Supreme Court case of Betts v. Brady decided in 1942. In this case, an unemployed farm worker in Maryland named Smith Betts was charged with robbery requested that the court appoint counsel to his defense. The judge denied this request on the grounds that in that county it was not practice in that county for the court to appoint counsel to poor defendants only in capital cases. Like Gideon, Betts conducted his own defense and was convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison. Betts sent an appeal to the Supreme Court, but the Court ruled against Betts because, the court’s opinion was “in the great majority of states, it has been the considered judgment of the people, their representatives, and their courts that the appointment of counsel is not a fundamental right, essential to a fair trial” (Goodman 64). With the precedent set by the ruling of Brady v. Betts, the denial of the appointment of counsel by the trial court in the Gideon case was issued with just reason. Even though many states and the federal government allowed for the appointment of counsel for impoverished defendants, Florida as well as many other southern states did not (Goodman 62). The only instance in which Counsel could be appointed to defendants under Florida law was in capital cases, and thus the reason for the denial of Gideon’s request for Counsel (Asch 135).

In pursuit of an appeal, Gideon studied law books while serving out his sentence in state prison. Gideon filed a petition for habeus corpus in the Florida Supreme Court. This petition sought to invalidate his conviction and sentence on the basis