. Q. Mr. Harris: The State is ready, your honor. Fla. Stat. . Singer v. United States, 380 U.S. 24, 24−26 (1965). Where a defendant appeals from the conviction and obtains a reversal of a conviction based upon the trial court’s error, the Double Jeopardy Clause does not bar a retrial, as long as the reversal was not based on insufficiency of the evidence. Gideon had a bottle of wine.108 Gideon acted “kinder drunk,” based on the way he walked.109Gideon’s pockets “bulged.”110 Cook, now at the corner, saw Gideon make a phone call from a telephone booth.111 A few minutes later, Cook watched as a taxi arrived and Gideon got into the cab.112. [226]. Pre-Sentence Investigation Report, supra note 16, at 1. Gideon replied, “I want to file my own motions.”173 He pulled out typewritten single-spaced motions based on two grounds: one was that a retrial would violate the Constitution’s guarantee against Double Jeopardy, and the other was that the two-year statute of limitation had passed.174 Both arguments were meritless. The trial was set for August 4.6. Turner’s help proved decisive. [33]. In those days, judges had a great deal of flexibility in deciding what sentence to impose, and, based upon my experience as an Assistant Attorney General, in the Criminal Appeals Section of the Florida Attorney General’s Office from 1960 to 1962, judges imposed lighter sentences if a “breaking” was not involved. . The other grounds for the motion were failure to state a crime and violation of Due Process. The defense’s theory was that Gideon walked from his rooming house to the telephone booth. Gideon v. Wainwright – From a 1963 Perspective, 190 Boyd Law BuildingIowa City, IA 52242-1113, Sponsored by: Graduate & Professional Student Government, © Iowa Law Review. Ct. Record, supra note 6, at 32. Ct. Record, supra note 6, at 15. I therefore did not believe that McCrary would let any admissions, made to a P.S.I. He testified that at approximately 5:30 A.M. the morning of the crime, he arrived in Bay Harbor after having been at an all-night dance in Apalachicola.104 Mr. Cook’s friends dropped him off near the Bay Harbor Poolroom. [154]. This is taken from the information in the Circuit Court file in the case. Gideon’s next trial came in 1939 when he was charged under the Missouri second-offender habitual criminal statute for burglary and larceny. Gideon’s first trial was scheduled for August 4, 1961. A. He again looked through the front window and saw the cigarette machine with its front removed and empty beer cans on the counter.231 He saw money bags on a pool table.232Within ten minutes, police arrived and Cook spoke with them in front of the poolroom,233 telling them what he had seen.234It is possible that no one had notified the police, and that the police just arrived on regular patrol.235 Fred Turner told me, 40 years later, that he did not think Cook was a credible witness. Gideon's second trial was not double jeopardy because he wasn't found _____ not guilty _____ is the time period when punishment is negated. In 1961, the number of violent and property crimes per 100,000 people was 2461.13, or about 1652 for an area with a population of 67,131. Virgil Q. Mayo was the other. Letter from W. Fred Turner (Aug. 11, 2003) (on file with author). . See, e.g., Marino v. Ragen, 332 U.S. 561, 564 (1947). Q. Prior to today, I’m speaking of. [236]. [284]. No mention had been made of Cokes at the first trial, and Ira Strickland, the proprietor, did not maintain in his testimony in either trial that any Cokes had been taken.290 Undoubtedly, Pitts’ inclusion of Cokes in the list of stolen items was a mistake. 155). Did you ever hear of me getting drunk? at 31. Participating in presenting false testimony in court has long been an ethical violation under the rules of ethical behavior for lawyers in every jurisdiction. Harris was a tall, large, muscular-looking man.60 He was a very capable trial lawyer,61 and had a “presence” in the courtroom.62 Lawyers who worked with or otherwise knew Mr. Harris described him as “quick,” and said he could be “funny” in court.63 Mr. Harris’s colleagues considered him “old school, rough, tough, a fine lawyer.”64 He was extremely “plain spoken,”65 and always spoke his mind. interviewer, into evidence in the second trial. This is my own opinion. Was that Judge E. Clay Lewis, Jr., Circuit Judge? Mr. Gideon,’ he said ‘to his opinion, it looked like him.’”266 The implication was that Cook, shortly after the crime, was not positive that it was Gideon he had seen inside the poolroom. In his second trial, Gideon decided to testify in his own behalf. 9.What was one important fact presented in the second trial that was not presented in the first? [6]. . Gideon himself and Judge McCrary made the most notable errors. Mayo was being modest. On cross examination, Harris asked Rhodes whether she had gone across the street to the phone booth. [232]. The State’s failure to call Irene Rhodes also benefitted Turner. . Circuit of Fla. (July 18, 1963) (on file with author). [82]. [243]. Yes (measuring on finger), there was about this much in the bottle. For example, he did odd jobs at the Bay Harbor Poolroom, but was never on the regular payroll there.280, In order to explain why he had so much change with him when he was arrested, Gideon testified that he “ran” gambling games.281 He said he had run a game five days before the break-in, and that is where he earned the change he had with him when arrested.282 He claimed that he always carried large amounts of change.283. Gideon first called the cab driver, Preston Bray. As a layperson, he could not be expected to know that being convicted of juvenile delinquency is not the same thing as being convicted of a felony. David Angier, Site of Gideon Trial, Courthouse, to Receive Historic Marker, The Panama City News Herald, August 5, 2003, at 1. [3]. By keeping his theory a secret, Turner outsmarted the prosecution. . Furthermore, he previously had been tried and convicted in a Missouri state court, and unlike Florida, the Missouri statute required appointment of counsel in felony cases.79, Gideon was not the only person to state the law incorrectly. Court of Fla., to Judy Waterbury, Jay Pub. Q. [53]. In this line of questioning, Rhodes was avoiding having to say that Gideon brought the wine bottle with him as he walked to the telephone booth. Turner argued that Gideon left his rooming house and, even though the shortest route to the phone booth would have been to cross the street and walk directly to the phone booth, Gideon instead crossed the street and continued west until he reached the alley. at 224−25. He was able to get Gideon to say that he had the keys to the bar so why would he break into it if he had the keys. Letter from W. Fred Turner to author (Sept. 29, 2003) (on file with author). At Gideon’s second trial, he obtained the services of an appointed local defense attorney, W. Fred Turner. Interview with W. Fred Turner, supra note 17. 1955); People v. Anthony R. (In re Anthony R.), 201 Cal. Id. Irene Rhodes could have buttressed Cook’s testimony establishing that fact, even though she had been a somewhat reluctant witness and an obvious friend of Gideon in her statements at the first trial. Turner tried to convince Gideon to accept the plea bargain presented by the State, and Gideon refused.307 No lawyer worth his salt would suggest to an innocent client that he should plead guilty. Block, also a Miami attorney, traveled to Panama City. He argued and petitioned WHILE he was still in jail. The three main participants in both of Gideon’s trials were Gideon, Judge Robert McCrary, and William Harris, the Assistant State Attorney. He was 61 years old, and he died as a result of cancer or complications from tuberculosis.299 At the time of his death, he was employed at a marina, pumping gas.300, In September 2000, when Fred Turner took my wife and me to the scene of the crime, the poolroom, the rooming house where Gideon lived, the rooming house where Irene Rhodes lived, Henderson’s Store, and all the other buildings in the area had been demolished. [50]. The Defendant stated to the Court that the United States Supreme Court said he was entitled to it. . Also, conversations with Turner on September 15, 2000, and April 17, 2001, in which we discussed this question. Gideons_Trumpet_Movie_Memo_RebekaUndheim.docx, Florida State College at Jacksonville • PLA 1104, West Springfield High, Springfield • SOCIAL STU IDK, Inver Hills Community College • POLS 1161. Describe Clarence Gideon… Would you say I was intoxicated that morning? [158]. . When Gideon was not in prison, he was often out on parole, and had spent about two-and-a-half years in hospitals for treatment of tuberculosis. Twenty-five years later, a newspaper reporter who interviewed McCrary said this: “[McCrary] thought the justice system had worked just fine before Gideon won his [Supreme Court] case. Id. The president said the outcome might have been different if Trump had had six months left in his term Last modified on Tue 26 Jan 2021 12.07 EST The impeachment trial … Telephone Interview with Virgil Q. Mayo (Dec. 9, 2002). He may have heard Turner’s name from other inmates at the state penitentiary at Raiford,170 and Turner had an excellent reputation in Bay County as a trial lawyer.171Also, Turner had represented Gideon’s wife, so Gideon knew first hand that Turner was a good lawyer. Second Trial Transcript, supra note 4, at 114, 120–23. In his comments during the colloquy, Judge McCrary was also wrong. However, the answers to some of Gideon’s cross-examination questions were more helpful to the prosecution than to the defense. will you give him the benefit of that doubt and acquit him? [261]. A. 1966). Judges 7:2–7. Second Trial Transcript, supra note 4, at 35–36. Fla. Code of Ethics R. B(6) (1992). Turner merely wanted to be allowed to ask further questions in order to show the jury that Cook was not credible.249 Turner said: How far I can go in proving his criminal record is absolutely true, but I am abandoning trying to prove any further criminality on the part of this witness, but I am simply attacking his credibility because he testified under oath at a prior trial contrary to what he is testifying to here today, and I think the Jury has got a right to know that, its [sic] testing his credibility, it goes purely to that.250, After more debate, Judge McCrary said to Turner, “I think you can proceed, if you will proceed properly to show a prior inconsistent statement.”251. I wish to thank Andrew Eells of the Office of Faculty Support Services at Stetson for his help to me in producing this Essay. If not, what are examples from the film that explain this? Woody Wisner, Clarence Gideon Acquitted in “Defense Appeal” Trial, Panama City News, Aug. 6, 1963, at 1. Also, I thank my daughter, Lee Ann Gun of Ashland, Massachusetts, for preparing the diagram contained in the Essay. [66]. [207]. Her last response contradicted her earlier testimony that Gideon had put the wine bottle down at the booth after he emerged from the alley. He was a thief.”303 A person interviewed for the Pre-Sentence Investigation report following the first trial said that Gideon had “boasted that he made his living by stealing.”304 Gideon admitted being inside the poolroom and admitted taking the items he was charged with taking, but said the offense should be petit larceny.305, Gideon did not have the safeguards available to him had he not been convicted on the first trial when he talked to Perry Wells, Probation and Parole Supervisor when he was interviewed after the first trial. [51]. He met his wife, Helen Jetlone Wood, in Chambria, India, in 1945, when she was working as an Army nurse. ? We corresponded and phoned each other regularly. However, on July 30, Turner filed a motion to quash, which raised several issues including Gideon’s double jeopardy argument. Interview with W. Fred Turner, supra note 17; Second Trial Transcript, supra note 4, at 18–19, 89. . 10.What guarantee is now in place for persons accused of a crime who may be sentenced to time in jail? He had access to court records and during the three-year period while the two of us often discussed the Gideon case, he sent me a copy of the “Pre-Sentence Investigation” report. Also, the rules provided that a lawyer shall not “[k]nowingly or willfully make any false representations of fact to any judge, court, or jury to induce a favorable action or ruling by either.” Id. Turner knew that Cook had pled guilty to and been convicted of joyriding, before he had been Turner’s client. Gideon tried to show, through cross-examination of Henry Cook and direct examination of the taxi driver, that he had not been carrying a wine bottle as he emerged from the alley. . He was not motivated by being an historical figure . He does a peculiar thing [when he supposedly sees Gideon inside the poolroom]. § 810.03 (1961). [242]. Judge McCrary had this report when he sentenced Gideon on August 25, 1961. Gideon doubted God's promise, He asks for two signs, God decided to work two miracles to confirm Gideons faith and to encourage those with him, The first miracle brought dew on the fleece while it was dry all around it, but the second was greater for the fleece was dry and dew was all around it He and his friends were not prosecuted—in fact, no one else was ever prosecuted for the June 1961 break-in at the Bay Harbor Poolroom. Then he walked north, out of the alley, to the phone booth. I’ll do my own signing. Turner stayed overnight at the Stetson College of Law. The facts that the Supreme Court required the court to appoint counsel, that Gideon requested Turner, and that the number of possible experienced criminal trial attorneys in that circuit to choose from was so limited would have led McCrary to deny such a request. Turner thought Cook was lying when he said he could see Gideon leaving the poolroom by the back door.236 Turner alleged that Cook’s line of sight was such that he could not have seen the back door through the window from his position on the sidewalk.237. On June 3, 1961, $5 in change and a few bottles of beer and soda were stolen from the Pool Room, a pool hall and beer bar that belonged to Ira Strickland Jr. Strickland also alleged that $50 was taken from the jukebox. Transcript of Record at 22, 89, 91, State v. Gideon (Aug. 5, 1963) [hereinafter Second Trial Transcript]. Telephone Interview with Jackie Wise, supra note 48. At this point the Defendant walked around the Counsel Table and stood facing the Jury and told them what he expected the evidence on his behalf to show.94, The opening statements and closing arguments were not recorded by the court reporter. See also Letter from the Honorable W. Fred Turner, Circuit Court Judge, 14th Jud. Of course, when a juvenile commits an act, such as car theft, which would be a felony if … He told me that McCrary had been a Lieutenant Colonel in the Field Artillery who “looked straight ahead, with blinders.”53, When he was off the bench, McCrary was a “people person.”54 He was a good friend, jovial, and good-natured. He talked with Gideon for an hour and a half. In truth, there will be no “winners” from this impeachment. [193]. See Travaglia v. State, 864 So. Judge McCrary said that a defendant was entitled to appointment of counsel only in a capital case.80 It is true that counsel was required in capital cases, but Betts v. Brady also required a state judge to appoint counsel in a non-capital felony case if one or more special circumstances were present in the case.81  To comply with Betts, McCrary should have conducted an inquiry to determine whether one or more special circumstances were present in Gideon’s case. I can only speculate but what may have happened is that Simon told him during their meeting at Raiford that double jeopardy was not available as a defense and this frankness by Simon alienated Gideon. In Anthony Lewis’ book, Gideon’s Trumpet, the reader draws the conclusion that Gideon was not involved in this crime, but based on the two trial transcripts and this Pre-Sentence Investigation report, without doubt he did commit the crime even though he was found not guilty at the second trial. Gideon also asked whether Strickland ever left the building unlocked. The Court: What says the Defendant? But if the latter, Turner argued, the inconsistency affected the witness’s credibility and Turner should be allowed to continue the line of questioning without producing evidence of the prior conviction. The lawyers for the State lost the second trial for several reasons. Here is what he said regarding his appointment to represent Clarence Gideon: I realized that I would not be paid for representing Mr. Gideon, of course, but as an officer of the Court, I had learned in law school that lawyers are sometimes called upon by Judges to represent clients who have no money to hire their own lawyer. Gideon’s contention, based on his questions, appeared to be that he had walked to the phone booth directly from his rooming house, not from the poolroom, and that he had not been carrying the wine bottle.