The Right to Counsel

* Reviews *

The story of Clarence Earl Gideons fight to make the state of Florida provide him with free counsel in his 1961 trial for breaking and entering with the intent to commit a larceny led to the making of the movie, Gideons Trumpet. The first chapter is a brief overview of the book. It describes Gideons request to the trial judge and the judges refusal on the grounds that the state appointed free counsel only for capital offenses. Also included are the further events that led to the Gideon v. Wainwright Supreme Court decision that ruled that felony defendants in all states had a right to counsel. The second chapter describes Gideons earlier life, his inability to defend himself well during the trial, and the five-year prison sentence he received. The third chapter covers the research he did in prison that led him to successfully petition the Supreme Court to hear his case. The fourth chapter describes the arguments before the court and the unanimous decision in Gideons favor. However, the decision only gave Gideon the right to counsel; it did not free him. The next chapter shows his final trial, represented by attorney W. Fred Turner, who brought the case to a verdict of not guilty. The sixth chapter describes the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie starring Henry Fonda as Gideon and points out the differences between the movie and the actual story. A final chapter explains the significance of the Supreme Court decision for the American judicial system. Seven pages of notes, three glossary pages, a page listing additional reading, another page of relevant websites, and an index follow the text. Photographs, mostly in black-and-white, illustrate the book, and frequent blue pages and sidebars amplify the text. The book is part of the Famous Court Cases That Became Movies series., Children's Literature