Johnson v. Mayo
| Decision Date | 04 October 1946 |
| Citation | 28 So.2d 585,158 Fla. 264 |
| Parties | JOHNSON v. MAYO, State Prison Custodian. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Rehearing Denied Oct. 24, 1946.
Writ of Certiorari Denied Jan. 6, 1947. See 67 S.Ct. 492.
John R Johnson, in pro. per.
J. Tom Watson, Atty. Gen., and Reeves Bowen, Asst. Atty. Gen., for respondent.
John R. Johnson has presented here a petition for writ of habeas corpus in which he alleges that he was transferred from the county jail in Jefferson County to the county jail in Madison County Florida, on the 9th of October, 1945; that on the same date he was informed against for the larceny of an automobile that two other persons were joined with him as defendants in that charge; that thereafter petitioner, together with the other two defendants, was brought on for trial. He then alleges:
He also alleges that he was not guilty of the offense with which he was charged and for which he was convicted. His contention is that the trial court by refusing to appoint counsel to defend petitioner, violated Section 11 of our Declaration of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution and that by reason thereof his conviction, judgment and sentence is void.
So it is that the sole question presented for our consideration and determination is, whether or not under the Constitution and statutes of the State of Florida the judge of a trial court is required to appoint counsel to defend an indigent defendant when put upon trial under an indictment or in charging such defendant with the commission of a felony. Section 11 of the Declaration of Rights is as follows:
The only statute which we have in this State touching upon the question here under consideration is Section 909.21, Fla. Statutes, 1941, same F.S.A., which provides for the appointment by the trial judge of counsel for an insolvent defendant who is charged with a capital offense. This section of the statute limits requirement that counsel be appointed by the court for indigent defendants to those defendants who are charged with the commission of a capital offense. Our construction of Sec. 11 of our Declaration of Rights is that any defendant charged with a felony in the courts of this state shall have the right to be heard in his own defense in his own proper person and also by counsel, if he has counsel, and presents himself and his counsel at the bar of the court where he is to be heard. But this constitutional provision does not require that he should provide himself with counsel, nor does it require that the State should furnish him counsel to be selected and appointed by the trial court.
We have repeatedly held that in cases where the charge was less than a capital offense no duty...
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Wade v. Mayo
...in Florida for the purpose at hand have been dispelled by the subsequent decision of the Supreme Court of Florida in Johnson v. Mayo, 158 Fla. 264, 28 So.2d 585. That case was a habeas corpus proceeding in which the Florida court proceeded to pass upon the merits of a claim identical with t......
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Sneed v. Mayo
...the benefit of counsel. See also Watson v. State, 142 Fla. 218, 194 So. 640; Johnson v. State, 148 Fla. 510, 4 So.2d 671; Johnson v. Mayo, 158 Fla. 264, 28 So.2d 585. To like effect is Johnson v. Mayo, Fla., 40 So.2d 134, 135, a post conviction habeas corpus proceeding involving the validit......
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Cash v. Culver
...duty to provide counsel only for an indigent defendant on trial for a capital offense. Sneed v. Mayo, Fla., 66 So.2d 865; Johnson v. Mayo, 158 Fla. 264, 28 So.2d 585; Fla.Stat., 1955, § 909.21, 5 The habeas corpus petition incorporates, among other things, excerpts from a newspaper account ......
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Cash v. Culver
...a trial judge is mandatorily required to supply counsel for an indigent defendant. Section 909.21, Florida Statutes, F.S.A. Johnson v. Mayo, 158 Fla. 264, 28 So.2d 585; Butler v. Culver, Fla.1959, 111 So.2d If upon examination it is apparent that by reason of age, ignorance, or inexperience......