AP Government
2015-2016
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Rights of the Accused Cases
Directions: Read the facts of each case and the question the Court had to answer. Make sure you understand both before
predicting how the Court ruled in that case. Don’t forget to explain your decision! Do not look up the answer. Predict on your own
based on what you know of the U.S. Constitution. (Do not write in the shaded area… yet.)
Case
#1
Facts of the Case
Question
E.E. Ashcraft was charged with hiring John Ware to
Were both men coerced
murder Zelma Ida Ashcraft, E.E. Ashcraft’s wife. They both into confession, thereby
violating their Fifth
confessed and were sentenced to 99 years. Ware and
Amendment and
Ashcraft appealed claiming that their confessions were
extorted. Ware, a black man, claimed that he confessed Fourteenth Amendment
because he feared mob violence. Ashcraft, who had been right against selfincrimination?
questioned for more than 38 hours, with only one 5minute break, claimed he was threatened and abused.
Decision:
#2
On March 13. 1963, Ernesto Miranda was arrested for
the kidnapping and rape of an 18-year-old girl ten days
earlier. After two hours of interrogation by police
officers, Miranda signed a confession to the rape charge
with the typed statement “I hereby swear that I make
this statement voluntarily and of my own free will, with
no threats, coercion, or promises of immunity, and with
full knowledge of my legal rights, understanding any
statement I make may be used against me.” However, at
no time was Miranda told of his right to counsel. He was
not advised of his right to remain silent, nor was he
informed that his statements during the interrogation
would be used against him. Miranda was convicted of
rape and kidnapping and sentenced to 20 to 30 years
imprisonment on each charge.
Did the police practice of
interrogating individuals
without notifying them of
their rights to counsel and
their protection against
self-incrimination violate
the Fifth Amendment?
Decision:
#3
Nine black youths – describe by their attorneys as ignorant Did the trials violate the
and illiterate – were accused of raping two white women on Due Process Clause of the
a freight train headed from Chattanooga to Alabama.
14th Amendment? (Was it
Alabama officials sprinted through the legal proceedings: A “too speedy” and “undertotal of three trials took one day, and all nine were
counseled”?)
sentenced to death. Alabama law required the
appointment of counsel in capital cases, but the attorneys
did not consult with their clients and had done little more
than appear to represent them at the trial.
Decision:
#4
Decision:
Clarence Earl Gideon was charged in Florida state court
with a felony: having broken into and entered a poolroom
with the intent to commit a misdemeanor offense. When
he appeared in court without a lawyer, Gideon requested
that the court appoint one for him. According to Florida
state law, however, an attorney may only be appointed to
an indigent defendant in capital cases, so the trial court
did not appoint one. Gideon represented himself in trial.
He was found guilty and sentenced to five years in prison.
Does the Sixth
Amendment’s right to
counsel in criminal cases
extend to felony
defendants in state
courts?
How should the Court rule? Explain.
AP Government
#5
2015-2016
Jon Argersinger was an indigent charged with carrying a
Do the 6th and 14th
concealed weapon, a misdemeanor in the State of Florida. Amendments guarantee a
The charge carried with it a maximum penalty of six months right to counsel to
in jail and a $1,000 fine. During the bench trial in which he defendants who are
was convicted and sentenced to serve ninety days in jail,
accused of committing
Argersinger was not represented by an attorney.
misdemeanors?
Decision:
#6
Danny Escobedo was arrested and taken to a police station
for questioning. Over several hours, the police refused his
repeated requests to see his lawyer. Escobedo’s lawyer
sought unsuccessfully to consult with his client. Escobedo
subsequently confessed to murder.
Was Escobedo denied the
right to counsel as
guaranteed by the Sixth
Amendment?
Decision:
#7
Robert Williams, an escaped mental patient, kidnapped and Should evidence resulting
murdered 10-year-old Pamela Powers from a YMCA in Des in an arrest be excluded
Moines, Iowa in 1968. He surrendered to police 2 days later from trial because it was
in another county on the condition that he not be
improperly obtained?
interrogated while being transported back to the original
county. A detectives began a conversation and proposed
that Williams reveal where he had left the body before an
impending snowfall; Williams agreed and led the detectives
to Powers’ body. Williams was convicted of the murder.
Decision:
#8
In 2001, Yaser Hamdi, an American citizen, was arrested by
the U.S military in Afghanistan, was accused of fighting for
the Taliban against the U.S., declared an “enemy
combatant,” and transferred to a military prison in Virginia.
Frank Dunham, Jr., a defense attorney in VA, filed a habeas
corpus petition in federal district court there for Hamdi’s
father, in an attempt to have Hamdi’s detention declared
unconstitutional. He argued the gov’t had violated Hamdi’s
5th Amendment right to Due Process by holding him
indefinitely and not giving him access to an attorney or a
trial. The gov’t countered that the Executive Branch had
the right, during wartime, to declare people who fight
against the United States “enemy combatants” and thus
restrict their access to the court system.
Did the government
violate Hamdi’s Fifth
Amendment right to Due
Process by holding him
indefinitely, without
access to an attorney,
because he was an
“enemy combatant” who
fought against the United
States?
Decision:
#9
Decision:
4 British and Australian citizens were captured by American Do United States courts
military in Pakistan/Afghanistan during US’ War on Terror. have jurisdiction to
The 4 men were taken to the US military base in
consider legal appeals filed
Guantanamo Bay. Their families filed suit in federal district on behalf of foreign
court seeking a writ of habeas corpus that would declare citizens held by the U.S.
the detention unconstitutional. They claimed the gov’t’s military in Guantanamo
decision to deny the men access to attorneys and to hold Bay, Cuba?
them indefinitely without access to a court violated the 5th
Amendment’s Due Process clause. The gov’t countered that
the federal courts had no jurisdiction to hear the case
because the prisoners were not US citizens and were being
held in territory over which the US didn’t have sovereignty.
AP Government
#10
2015-2016
A jury found Gregg guilty of armed robbery and murder and Is the death penalty a
violation of the 8th and 14th
sentenced him to death.
Amendment as “cruel and
unusual” punishment?
Decision:
#11
Furman was burglarizing a private home when a family
member discovered him. He attempted to flee, and in
doing so tripped and fell. The gun that he was carrying
went off and killed a resident of the home. He was
convicted of murder and sentenced to death.
Does the imposition and
carrying out the death penalty
in these cases constitute cruel
and unusual punishment in
violation of the 8th and 14th
Amendment?
The state of North Carolina enacted legislation that made
the death penalty mandatory for all convicted first-degree
murderers. Consequently, when James Woodson was
found guilty of such an offense, he was automatically
sentenced to death.
Did the mandatory death
penalty law violate the
Eighth and Fourteenth
Amendment?
In 1974, a Florida court sentenced Alvin Bernard Ford to
death for first-degree murder. At the time of the murder,
trial, and sentencing phase, there was no indication that
Ford was suffering from any mental deficiencies. While
awaiting execution, Ford’s mental condition worsened. His
competency was assessed in accordance with Florida
procedures. Following this assessment, Florida’s Governor
signed Ford’s death warrant.
Does the cruel and
unusual punishment
clause of the 8th
Amendment and the due
process clause of the 14th
Amendment prohibit the
imposition of the death
penalty upon the insane?
Decision:
#12
Decision:
#13
Decision:
#14
Daryl Renard Atkins was convicted of abduction, armed
Is the execution of
robbery, and capital murder. In the penalty phase of Atkins’ mentally retarded persons
trial, the defense relied on one witness, a forensic
“cruel and unusual
psychologist, who testified that Atkins was mildly mentally punishment” prohibited by
retarded.
the Eighth Amendment?
Decision:
#15
Decision:
Christopher Simmons in 1993, at the age of 17, concocted a Does the execution of
plan to murder Shirley Crook, bringing two younger friends minors violate the
into the plot. The plan was to commit burglary and murder prohibition of “cruel and
by breaking and entering, tying up the victim, and tossing unusual punishment”?
her off a bridge. The three met in the middle of the night.
However, one of the younger friends dropped out of the
plot, leaving Simmons and the other younger fried. They
broke into Mrs. Crook’s home, bound her hands, covered
her eyes, drove her to a state park, and threw her off a
bridge. When the case was brought to trial, the evidence
was overwhelming. Simmons had confessed to the murder
and performed a videotaped reenactment at the crime
scene. There was testimony (from the younger friend) that
showed premeditation. The jury returned a guilty verdict
and, even considering mitigating factors (no criminal history
and his age), they recommended the death sentence, which
the trial court imposed.
AP Government
2015-2016