CASE BRIEF

A case brief should be 1-2 pages. (250-500 words) The brief for each case should be submitted before the date on the work schedule. Be prepared to discuss your brief in class.

Facts: Summarize the facts of the case. List only the essential facts that you need to understand the holding and reasoning of the case.

Procedure: Most of the cases that you'll read in law school will be appellate court decisions. In this section, you want to list what happened in the lower court(s). Do not go into too much detail. One or two sentences are sufficient for this section.

Issue(s): What is/are the question(s) facing the court? Form the issue questions in a way that they can be answered by yes or no.

Holding: How did the court answer the issue question(s)? YES/NO?

Reasoning: This is the most important section of your case brief. Here you want to list the reasoning of the majority in reaching its decision. You can actually be quite detailed in this section. List what the law was before this case was decided and how the law has changed after this decision. Law professors love to discuss the reasoning of a case in class discussions.

Concurring/dissenting opinions: Even though I read the concurring and dissenting opinions, I rarely brief them. However, there are some cases (e.g. Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer) where the concurring or dissenting opinions end up becoming more important than the majority's opinions. In such cases, you should add this section to your case brief.

Chapter 7 - Gideon v. Wainwright and the Right to Counsel

According to the textbook written by David W. Neubauer, "America's Courts and The Criminal Justice System states: " Earl Gideon had been in and out of minor trouble since the age of fourteen. His minor trouble consisted of public drunkenness and petty theft, but in 1963 he was charged with a much more serious offense." Mr. Gideon was charged in the state of Florida with having broken and entered a poolroom with intent to commit a misdemeanor. In the state of Florida this type of offense is a felony. In court, Mr. Gideon during that time was without funds, so he demanded that a court appointed attorney represent him. The trial judge flat out refused. It was denied on the grounds that the state law in Florida permitted appointment of counsel for indigent defendants in capital cases only. The defendant, Earl Gideon represented himself as well as could be expected, but he was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment. From his prison cell he then applied to the State Supreme Court for a writ of habeas corpus on the ground that his conviction violated his rights under the Federal Constitution:

"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. "

He was denied the rights of the Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments.

Amendment Four states: "Prohibits unreasonable search and seizure and requires a showing of probable cause for the issuance of any search warrant or arrest warrant.

Amendment Five states: Requires indictment by a grand jury before any person can be put on trial for a "capital", or otherwise infamous crime" except in military matters. Prohibits the Federal Government from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property.

Amendment Fourteen states: Prohibits the states from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property with out Due Process, and guarantees all persons equal protection.

The State Supreme Court denied all relief, so Mr. Gideon then wrote a letter to the Supreme Court. They decided to hear the case.

On March 18, 1963 The United States Supreme Court gave its final decision and agreed with the Defendant, Earl Gideon. They found that his first trial was unfair because he had been denied the right to an attorney. He was given the chance for a new trial. In the new trial he was finally given a second chance along with an attorney. This new attorney was able to show that the state's key witness was lying and might have even been part of the burglary himself. This time and after two years in prison, Mr. Gideon was found not-guilty, and the right to an attorney became the law of the land.

In closing, a quote given on November 11, 1963 by Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy sums this case up well.

"If an obscure Florida convict named Clarence Earl Gideon had not sat down in prison with a pencil and paper to write a letter to the Supreme Court, and if the Supreme Court had not taken the trouble to look for merit in that one crude petition among all the bundles of mail it muct receive everyday, the vast machinery of American law would have gone on functioning undisturbed. But Gideon did write that letter. The Court did look into his case and he was retried with the help of a competent defense counsel, found not guilty, and released from prison after two years of punishment for a crime he did not commit, and the whole course of American legal history has been changed."