Petition With The Supreme Court Of Florida example essay topic

473 words
On June 3, 1961, a burglary occurred at the Bay Harbor Pool Room in Panama City, Florida. During the burglary, a window was smashed and the cigarette machine and jukebox had been broken into. A witness claimed to have seen Clarence Earl Gideon in the poolroom early that morning. Later Gideon was picked up nearby with a bottle of wine and some change in his pockets, the police proceeded to arrest him. They charged him with breaking and entering in to the pool room. Gideon was a drifter who could not afford a lawyer.

When he appeared at the Florida Circuit Court for trial, he asked the judge to appoint a layer for him. Gideon argued that the Court should grant him one because the Sixth Amendment says that everyone is entitled to a lawyer. The judge denied his request, claiming that the state doesn't have to provide a poor person with a lawyer unless "special circumstances" exist. Gideon was left to represent himself. He had been arrested many times, so he understood some of the legal procedures.

However, he did a poor job of defending himself. An example of his inexperience was his choice of witnesses was unusual. He asked the police officers who arrested him to testify on his behalf. He lacked skill in questioning witnesses, which made it difficult for him to make his case. Gideon was later found guilty of breaking and entering and petty larceny, which is a felony in Florida. He was sentenced to five years in a Florida state prison.

While he was in prison, he began studying law in the prison library. Gideon's study of the law reaffirmed his belief that the Circuit Court's refusal to appoint counsel for him constituted a denial of his rights. With that in mind, he filed a petition with the Supreme Court of Florida for habeas corpus, which is an order to free him because he had been illegally imprisoned. That petition was rejected, but Gideon persevered. From his prison cell, he hand wrote a petition asking the Supreme Court of United States to hear his case. The Court allowed him to file it free of charge.

After reading the petition, they agreed to hear his case. Because of a man who was falsely accused of a crime, and decided to use his amendment's to help him and others prove their innocence. Because of Clarence Gideon people now have a right to an attorney, he took a piece of paper and pen and wrote a petition with out a lawyer and sent it to the Supreme Court and was accepted, now every one has a right to an attorney if you can't afford one..