The Right to Councel
 Betts was indicted
for robbery and
detained in a
Maryland jail.
 Before his trial he
asked for counsel
to represent him
 He was denied
and convicted
 He filed a writ of
habeas corpus,
and eventually
appealed all the
way to the
Supreme Court
 Supreme Court ruled in favor of Betts, yet
they stated that the right to counsel must be
decided on a case by case basis.
Personal History
 His father died when
he was three
 His mother remarried
two years later
 His mother and
stepfather were
factory workers and
thus pretty poor
 He has an assortment of odd jobs and numerous
stays in prison, usually for burglary
 He married four times
 In 1957, he moved to Panama City and worked
as a mechanic.
 His family left him after he was in jail again
 Shortly before the infamous poolroom burglary,
Gideon was arrested twice for crimes he hadn’t
committed. The FBI believed he was guilty of a
break-in at the local armory because he had
been convicted of a similar crime 25 years earlier.
When the Bay Harbor Bar was robbed, they also
suspected Gideon. They couldn’t find evidence in
either case so they threw him in jail for vagrancy.
 A month after his release, he was arrested for
breaking into the Bay Harbor Poolroom
 Officer Henry
Berryhill Jr.
discovered the
break-in during a
routine patrol
 He asked the man
hanging around
the front of the
building if he knew
anything about it
 Henry Cook said
he had seen
Gideon leaving
the building
 The deputy found
Gideon at a bar
later that morning
and arrested him
 Gideon claimed
he was innocent
 Held on August 4th, 1961 in the Circuit Court of
Bay County, Florida
 When the judge asked if Gideon was ready for
trial, he responded that he wasn’t and that he
requested the court to appoint him counsel to
represent him
 The judge said that under Florida law, he couldn’t
appoint a lawyer to Gideon unless he was
charged of murder of a capital offense, both
which threatened the death penalty
 Supreme Court, 1932: States had to provide
lawyers to poor people charged with serious
crimes or murder
 Supreme Court, 1938: Poor defendants,
reguardless of the seriousness of the crimes they
were being charged, were entitled to lawyers in
federal trials
 The Problem? Gideon was being tried for a minor
offense in a state court
Gideon
 Had no lawyer, so had
to provide all of the
jobs that a lawyer
would normally do, and
most likely do better
 He didn’t realize that
he could dismiss jurors
so he didn’t
 His crossexaminations of
witnesses had many
flaws that a lawyers
wouldn’t have had
Assistant State Attourney
William E. Harris
 Presented the case
against Gideon very
well, knowing legal
tactics and all
 While in prison,
Gideon was
petitioning the
Florida Supreme
Court to issue a writ
of habeas corpus,
to determine if he
was being held
illegally
 When the Florida
Supreme Court
received this
petition, they
declined hearing
Gideon’s case
 There was no
reason, it was just
denied
 He only had one
way out: The US
Supreme Court
 Gideon’s first attempt to contact the
Supreme Court failed
 Fourty copies of the petition must be sent and
all supporting documents must be typed. Also
there was a $100 fee for a petition. Some
poor applicants could provide a document
saying that they couldn’t pay the fee
 Gideon forgot to mail this along with the rest
 Gideon tried again, this time being successful
 His letter included:




The notarized affidavit
Copy of appeal to The Florida Supreme Court
The court’s reply
His main petition, a “Petition for a Writ of Certiorari
Directed to the Supreme Court of Florida”
 An order that the certified records of the last court to
hear the case be forwarded to the court of appeals
 It was handwritten and full of incorrect grammar
and spelling
 Its intent was clear
 He claimed his rights under the 14th Amendment
had been violated
 The 14th Amendment states that the government
will not “deprive any person of life, liberty, or
property without due process of law…”
 Gideon believed that due process included the right
to be represented by a lawyer
 Gideon’s Defense
 The Court appointed a
lawyer to Gideon, and
this lawyer was very
well known: Abe Fortas
 He had already
represented many
people before the
Supreme Court
 He felt like if he had a
good argument, the
court was looking to
overrule the Betts case
 Did the state court’s failure to appoint counsel for
Gideon violate his right to fair trial and due
process as protected by the Sixth and Fourteenth
Amendments?
 6th Amendment: The rights set forth in criminal
prosecutions. For example, right to a speedy and
public trial with an impartial jury…
 14th Amendment: Prohibits state and local
governments from depriving persons of life, liberty, or
property without certain steps to ensure fairness.
 March 18, 1963
 After deliberating Gideon’s case for two months,
the Supreme Court announced, in a unanimous
vote, that Betts should be overturned
 Justice Hugo Black wrote the opinion
 It spoke of the controversy since Betts was decided
 He noted the similarities between Betts and Gideon’s
cases
 It overruled Betts case
Support the
Decision
Oppose the
Decision
 Because the
American people are
getting more
freedoms and
liberties so that the
individuals
themselves are
protected
 It would be harder to
sentence someone
and possibly would
create cases that are
disputed
 Ex. American Civil
Liberties Union
 Now in ANY case in ANY court you are
guaranteed an attorney, no matter the
circumstances
 The right to an attorney is also one of the rights
you must be informed of based from the case
Miranda v. Arizona
 I believe that the Supreme Court got this one
right. If a person cannot afford an attorney that
shouldn’t mean that they don’t get one. If it is a
common citizen verses a lawyer in an oral
argument, chances are that the lawyer is going
to win, knowing legal tactics and all. This would
mean that anyone too poor to afford an attorney
would basically be convicted. That is not a fair
trial, something guaranteed to us in the
Constitution