Trial Advocacy 3rd Part
Another example of real, real drama that you will experience if you try a case with a jury with competent counsel on the other side, a fair judge, try it, believe you like it. I trusted reading in thoughtful of study of this paper, well what you’re imagination inspire you to announce, ready you re honor! Pick a jury try and argue case before that jury and enjoy the real life drama of trial by jury. Caveat, caveat, caveat! Always cook your grids and leave 20 minutes. Thank you! [Audience claps] Speaker: [indistinct voice] Charlie don’t go away. On behalf of the San Antonio criminal offence lawyer association and everybody here today from Texas criminal defense lawyers association, we signed a little birthday card for you.
Charlie: ah great!
Speaker: this isn’t one of those big fancy cards that tell you how special you are. Now this is one of those ginormous fancy cards that tell you how special you are!
Charlie: oh
Speaker: Happy birthday Charlie!
Charlie: Thank you!
Speaker: I’ll help you!
INDIGENT DEFENSE AND GIEON’S
female Speaker: Honored and we really appreciate the professor has come, professor Jacob has come from Stinson University. He, he is one of the ones that most notable cases and the reason that Lydia Clay Jackson was so anxious for him to come speak to us is because it is 50th anniversary of Gideon v. Wainwright and he was one of the lawyers that argued it, in 1963.He has then gone on to teach at all law schools around the country. He is an honored professor; he’s had teaching careers since 1965. He’s taught 20 different law school courses. At present, he teaches constitutional law, administrative law, criminal law and criminal procedure. So please welcome professor Jacob.
GIDEON V. WAINWRIGHT
Speaker: Thank you very much Betty. Oops
Female Speaker: [inaudible talk]
Speaker: Ok.
Well thank you very much Betty. When your president Lydia clay Jackson phoned to invite me to speak here today. She said, this is what she said,” for those who are public defenders, you’re the one who gave us our jobs”. I’ve never thought that way but I’m happy to take the credit. I was the one who of course lost the, Gideon case. It’s a pleasure to for me to be here today and to talk to you, to share my memories of the Gideon, case, case with you. Case began back in 1961, in June of that year, one morning at about 5:30 in the morning, a breaking and entering took place at the bay harbor pool room in very small community of bay harbor, east of downtown Panama City which is located in the…in the pan handled of Florida. It’s a picture of the bay harbor poolroom. A window in the rear of the poolroom had been smashed. A garbage had been placed next to the window, and the intruder had climbed through the, through the window. That person once inside had drunk a lot of beer, cans of beer and had broken into the, into the juke box and into the cigarette machine and take, taken a lot of coins out of those 2 machines and also a bottle of wine.
Apparent its all Gideon who is looking across the street from the bay harbor poolroom was arrested later, later morning in a bar in downtown Panama City. And the picture of Gideon. When he appeared in front of court he pleaded not guilty and he asked for a lawyer. But the trial judge did not appoint counsel. The rule of best versus Brady, which was the United States supreme court case in fact that the time was that the constitution did not require the appoint of counsel every state not capital felony case! The best opinion did however say that counsel should be appointed whenever there was a special circumstance, one or more special circumstances present in that case which makes it difficult for the defendant to receive a fair trial without the assistance of counsel. If an indigent defendant was younger, inexperienced or illiterate for example this would constitute a special circumstance which would require the trialed judge to appoint counsel for him.
Gideon however was 51 years old at the time. He had, he have had previous experience for federal and state criminal courts and he was of at least average intelligence and because of the fact that there was no special circumstance, the trial judge Robert McCrary told him that he would have to conduct his own defense. Every judge has the inherent power to appoint counsel at any case. And court members, the bar require to take those, except those case and trial the case without fee if necessary. It’s part of the privilege of practicing law. Why didn’t the trial judge and the Gideon appoint counsel for him? Well probably because there were only 2 experienced criminal defense lawyers, trialed lawyers and that, in that circuit which contains 6 counties. They were Fred Turner and Vergil Mail. They row those circuit along with the circuit judges trying virtually all of the felonies in which the defendant’s had asked for a trial. If judge Mccrary or either of the other 2 circuit judges in that circuit had attempted to provide legal help in every case involving a innocent who wanted counsel, they only had 2 experienced criminal trials lawyers to choose from and they had no funds with which to pay the any, any lawyer they might appoint. This is picture of judge Mccrary.
