S4 Ep31: You Have the Right to an Attorney ... Thanks to Clarence Earl Gideon

Crimes of the Centuries

Amber Hunt and Audioboom

True Crime, Documentary, Society & Culture, History

4.6 • 3.8K Ratings

🗓️ 21 October 2024

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A poor drifter named Clarence Earl Gideon had faced more than his share of legal run-ins over his lifetime, but when he was arrested in 1961 for allegedly stealing some drinks and quarters from a bar, he insisted he wasn't guilty -- and asked for an attorney to help him prove it. At the time, though, Florida law only provided defense lawyers in capital cases. After his conviction, Gideon sought to change that law throughout the nation.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes on the Grab Bag Patreon page.

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Transcript

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0:18.2	Some crimes are so heartbreaking or shocking that they change laws, change society or even earn the label Crime of the Century. But the stories that made headlines in decades past aren't necessarily remembered today.
0:23.0	I'm Amber Hunt, a journalist and author,
0:26.0	and in each episode of this show,
0:28.0	I'll examine a case that's maybe lesser known today
0:31.0	but was huge when it happened. This is crimes of the centuries. The The world is full of contradictions.
0:57.0	The world is full of contradictions.
1:00.0	Clarence Earl Gideon became one.
1:03.5	Anthony Lewis, a New York Times reporter who followed his case and wrote the bestseller
1:07.8	Gideon's trumpet, explained,
1:10.1	He was a beaten down, 50 year old man who looked like he was 75 and had the worst of life.
1:18.5	That's what he looked like. That's what he was.
1:21.1	Unschooled and unsophisticated, poor and unusually unlucky, the middle-aged
1:26.7	drifter had already served some time for four felony convictions when he stood
1:31.6	in a very warm Panama City Florida courtroom on August 4th,
1:36.6	1961 and told the judge he wasn't ready to go to trial on felony breaking and
1:41.8	entering and petty larceny charges.
1:48.1	In a CBS news reenactment, I guess that was done when TV was in its infancy.
1:54.0	Gideon and the trial judge Robert McCrary read the words they spoke that day.
1:59.0	Weird, but here we go.
2:01.0	What says it's abundant? Are you ready to go to trial?
2:04.0	Your Honor, I'm not ready for trial.
2:08.0	Why aren't you ready?
	...

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