Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S.

335
FACTS:
Clarence Earl Gideon was arrested and charged with breaking and
entering with the intent to commit petty larceny, based on a burglary that was
committed between midnight and 8 A.M. on June 3, 1961 at a pool room in
Panama City, Florida. The arrest was based entirely on the report of a witness
that he had seen Gideon in the pool room at 5:30 A.M. on the night of the crime
and that Gideon had a wine bottle and money in his pockets.
Gideon could not afford a lawyer and requested the court to appoint
counsel in his defense. However, his request was refused because Florida law
allowed courts to appoint counsel for indigent defendants only in death penalty
cases. Gideon undertook his own defense and was convicted. He was
sentenced to five years in prison, where he crafted his own appeal to the U.S.
Supreme Court by using prison writing materials and legal resources. The basis of
his appeal was that his Sixth Amendment rights had been violated through the
denial of counsel.
ISSUE:
WON, the defendant constitutional right to have a lawyer appointed by
the state is violated
HELD:
YES. The right of an indigent defendant in a criminal trial to have the
assistance of counsel is a fundamental right essential to a fair trial, and
petitioner's trial and conviction without the assistance of counsel violated the
Fourteenth Amendment.
The Court took this jurisprudence further, ruling that the Sixth Amendment
requires states to provide defense attorneys to any indigent criminal defendant
charged with a felony (generally a crime punishable by imprisonment of more
than one year). First, the Court noted that the states, just like the federal
government, are bound to the Sixth Amendment because the Fourteenth
Amendment's Due Process Clause applies the key provisions of the Bill of Rights
against the states. Second, the Court argued that the Sixth Amendment
requires a state to provide defense lawyers if necessary because such lawyers
are essential to a "fair trial."