Hugo Black

Name: Johnson v. Zerbst — Opinion of the Court
Author: Hugo Black

Johnson v. Zerbst — Opinion of the Court

Summary

“Johnson v. Zerbst — Opinion of the Court”, is a work by Hugo Black. It explores elements such as counsel, the Sixth Amendment and petitioner.

Quotes from Johnson v. Zerbst — Opinion of the Court (Hugo Black)

Hugo Black, Johnson v. Zerbst — Opinion of the Court

“ The purpose of the constitutional guaranty of a right to counsel is to protect an accused from conviction resulting from his own ignorance of his legal and constitutional rights, and the guaranty would be nullified by a determination that an accused's ignorant failure to claim his rights removes the protection of the Constitution. True, habeas corpus cannot be used as a means of reviewing errors of law and irregularities-not involving the question of jurisdiction-occurring during the course of trial ”

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Source: Wikisource

Hugo Black, Johnson v. Zerbst — Opinion of the Court

“ The Sixth Amendment stands as a constant admonition that if the constitutional safeguards it provides be lost, justice will not 'still be done.' [8] It embodies a realistic recognition of the obvious truth that the average defendant does not have the professional legal skill to protect himself when brought before a tribunal with power to take his life or liberty, wherein the prosecution is presented by experienced and learned counsel. That which is simple, orderly, and necessary to the lawyer-to the untrained layman-may appear intricate, complex, and mysterious. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Hugo Black, Johnson v. Zerbst — Opinion of the Court

“ Where a defendant, without counsel, acquiesces in a trial resulting in his conviction and later seeks release by the extraordinary remedy of habeas corpus, the burden of proof rests upon him to establish that he did not competently and intelligently waive his constitutional right to assistance of Counsel. If in a habeas corpus hearing, he does meet this burden and convinces the court by a preponderance of evidence that he neither had counsel nor properly waived his constitutional right to counsel, it is the duty of the court to grant the writ. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Hugo Black, Johnson v. Zerbst — Opinion of the Court

“ A waiver is ordinarily an intentional relinquishment or abandonment of a known right or privilege. The determination of whether there has been an intelligent waiver of right to counsel must depend, in each case, upon the particular facts and circumstances surrounding that case, including the background, experience, and conduct of the accused.
Patton v. United States, 281 U.S. 276, 50 S.Ct. 253, 74 L.Ed. 854, 70 A.L.R. 263, decided that an accused may, under certain circumstances, consent to a jury of eleven and waive the right to trial and verdict by a constitutional jury of twelve men. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Hugo Black, Johnson v. Zerbst — Opinion of the Court

“ Consistently with the wise policy of the Sixth Amendment and other parts of our fundamental charter, this Court has pointed to '* * * the humane policy of the modern criminal law * * *' which now provides that a defendant '* * * if he be poor, * * * may have counsel furnished him by the state, * * * not infrequently * * * more able than the attorney for the state.' [9]
The '* * * right to be heard would be, in many cases, of little avail if it did not comprehend the right to be heard by counsel. Even the intelligent and educated layman has small and sometimes no skill in the science of law. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Hugo Black, Johnson v. Zerbst — Opinion of the Court

“ If charged with crime, he is incapable, generally, of determining for himself wheter the indictment is good or bad. He is unfamiliar with the rules of evidence. Left without the aid of counsel he may be put on trial without a proper charge, and convicted upon incompetent evidence, or evidence irrelevant to the issue or otherwise inadmissible. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Hugo Black, Johnson v. Zerbst — Opinion of the Court

“ Holohan, 294 U.S. 103, 113, 55 S.Ct. 340, 342, 79 L.Ed. 791, 98 A.L.R. 406-that it 'falls with the premise.' To deprive a citizen of his only effective remedy would not only be contrary to the 'rudimentary demands of justice' [21] but destructive of a constitutional guaranty specifically designed to prevent injustice. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Hugo Black, Johnson v. Zerbst — Opinion of the Court

“ Reviewing the evidence on the petition for habeas corpus, the District Court said [6] that, after trial, petitioner and Johnson '* * * were remanded to jail, where they asked the jailer to call a lawyer for them, but were not permitted to contact one. ”

Hugo Black

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