Gideon Trumpet

The majority of the time, evidence is the key to the case. It is rare to conclude what, why, and when something happened, without evidence. The American Heritage Dictionary defines unfair as "not confirming to approve standards". Gideon's Trumpet by Anthony Lewis follows the case Earl Gideon, a poor Floridian was tried and convicted of a crime that he had committed. In many cases there's a process to put evidence together and solve the case. In Gideon's case he was accused.

Gideon was accused of breaking into a pool hall and stealing change from the register, wine, and cigarettes. After the robbery a man standing outside said he saw Gideon leave with a bottle of wine. Gideon was questions by the police officer; Gideon was carrying a lot of change on his pockets. Gideon was arrested. On the day of his trail he was not ready he did not have a lawyer. He asked the judge to appoint him a lawyer he's request was denied. The Florida law stated only defendants in capital cases would be appoint a lawyer unless it was a special circumstance. He did not have a choice but represents himself he tried to defend himself but there was no evidence he was guilty. The judge sentences him for five years in prison. While in prison he studied the law he believes he had an unfair unconstitutional trail.

Gideon sent an appeal to the supreme court of the United States. The supreme took into consideration that the trail can overturn Betts vs. Brandy. They decided to hear the case Gideon was soon out of prison for the new trial. For the second trial he was appointed by a lawyer an ACLU lawyer to represent him. Gideon denied the ACLU lawyer he wanted a lawyer he knew they made his request. The lawyer made it obvious that Gideon did not robbed the pool hall. It turn out that the person who robbed the pool hall was the person who witness the crime scene. The reason why Gideon carried change at the time he was arrested was because he was a gambler.

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