Williams V. Florida Case Analysis

Improved Essays
In the case of Williams vs Florida, Williams argued that his rights had been violated when the State of Florida did not let him use the fifth amendment as a reason to not give the name of witnesses that could corroborate his story as an alibi. He also said that the fact that he was getting a six-man jury rather than a 12-man jury, violated his constitutional rights. The jury ended up convicting him of robbery with a life sentence. His claims of violation of his right to a jury and right to not incriminate himself by providing an alibi, which would in turn give the state the opportunity to find a way to rebut his testimony, were rejected. There were majority and dissenting opinions. Justice Marshall dissented in part because he believed that

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    This case mainly references the Fifth Amendment, the right against self-incrimination. In the case, Malloy, a petitioner, was sentenced to one year in jail for unlawful gambling. After 3 months, however, he was released from jail and put on probation for 2 years. While malloy was on probation, he was asked to testify to a state inquiry into gambling and other criminal-related activities that Malloy was involved in. When he heard this, he declined to testify and answer their questions because it would have incriminated…

    • 1273 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Dissenting opinions: Justice Scalia, Ginsburg, and the Chief Justice join in dissenting, “the court points to no textual basis for that conclusion other than the notoriously malleable word "willfully" itself. Instead, it seems to fall back on a presumption that even where ignorance of the law is an excuse, that excuse should be construed as narrowly as the statutory language permits.” Justice Scalia talks more about not basing the court case on just presumptions but more on legal context, which leads his argument in dissenting. IX. Vote tally: 6 -…

    • 847 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    FACTS: Petitioner was charged in Florida with breaking and entering with intent to commit a misdemeanor; this offense is a felony in Florida. The petitioner asked the trial court to appoint counsel, but the court denied the request. The petitioner was found guilty and sentenced to 5 years in prison. The petitioner then filed in the Florida Supreme Court for habeas corpus arguing that the refusal of the trial court to appoint counsel denied him of constitutional rights, but was denied the relief. The case before the U.S. Supreme Court is a Writ of Certiorari.…

    • 372 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    State V. Evans Case Study

    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In the case of State v. Evans, 671 N.W.2d 720, (2003). , we see the distress of the victim that suffered from both harassment and stalking from her predator for a period that span more than three years (Brody and Acker, 2010). The harassment aspect that Hubert Evans summited the victim, Rebecca Arnold, to started out at a very slow rate with it become more intense and leading to stalking over years leading to the arrest of Mr. Evans and criminal conviction for harassment and stalking (Brody and Acker, 2010). The criminal charges were heard by a judge and jury where Mr. Evans gained a criminal conviction for the charges that he faced in the trial. The criminal conviction of Mr. Evans lead to his appeal to the State of Iowa Appeals court to evaluate the case as it relates to the state statute for harassment and stalking (Brody and Acker, 2010).…

    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Salinas Vs Texas Summary

    • 441 Words
    • 2 Pages

    CASE BRIEF Case Name – Salinas v. Texas, 570 U.S. 12 (2013) Facts – Genovevo Salinas, the petitioner, who was not in custody or read Miranda warnings, agreed to go to the police station to answer questions regarding involvement in a murder. When petitioner was asked if ballistic testing would match ammunition casings found at the scene, he remained silent. Petitioner contended that the prosecutors’ use of his silence to indicate guilt violated his Fifth Amendment rights. Procedural History – The petitioner was charged in Texas state court with murder.…

    • 441 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    As a Supreme Court justice who aided in the decision of the Dred Scott v. Sanford case, I was in favor of Dred Scott. My decision was based mainly on the fact that Dr. John Emerson moved Dred Scott to the state of Illinois and later to the state of Wisconsin. Slavery was prohibited in both Illinois and Wisconsin, which was indeed a fair argument for Dred Scott, being that he has lived in both states for a long period of time, even married his wife, Harriet Robinson in the free state of Wisconsin. After the death of Dr. Emerson, Scott and his family should have been considered.…

    • 236 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    (Alito, Salinas v Texas, 2012) Holding: The Judgment is affirment Rationale/Reason: The reason of this case concerns whether the prosecuting attorney may have used the defendant’s silence throughout pre-arrest , using pre-Miranda questioning as practical evidence of his guilt. Salinas put up a good argument that his Fifth Amendment right were violated by the Supreme Court because they should have over turn his guilty verdict because of the fact the Court of Criminal Appeals and lower Texas courts used evidence of silence throughout pre-arrest, pre-Miranda questioning. (Alito, leranlebertyedu,…

    • 392 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When ruling on the case, John Marshall had three issues and questions…

    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Provide a fully developed essay of at least 500 words, and cite sources used. Marbury versus Madison is considered the most important cases in the history of the Supreme Court. The case took place around from 1789 and lasted until 1803. The constitution called for three branches of the government: legislative, executive, and judiciary. Articles I and II covered legislative and executive.…

    • 571 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    John Marshall served as chief judge from 1801 to 1835, and he was the greatest dominance to the Supreme Court that there was no judge can compare. At the outset of his tenure Judge, Supreme Court asserted its power by declaring an Act of Parliament was unconstitutional, that case was Marbury v. Madison in 1803. Marshall's decision in the dilemma seems no escape showed natural talent of his absolute. Marshall declared Section 13 of Act 1789 of Justice is unconstitutional because it empowered instance trial for the Supreme Court beyond the provisions in Article III of the Constitution. Thus, the power of the Supreme Court was reconsidered and decided the congressional legislation was unconstitutional had been set.…

    • 302 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Power in the Court John Marshall was one of the most prominent members of the U.S. Supreme Court. Marshall is known for producing one of the most influential decisions in Supreme Court history after his ruling in the well-known case of Marbury v. Madison. During the time he served as Chief Justice, Marshall managed to bring more power to the judicial branch. He did so by working his way up to the highest position in the court, strengthening the unity of the justices, and establishing judicial review.…

    • 415 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Fifth Amendment says that no one can be accused of a crime unless a grand jury decides that there is enough evidence to charge a person for a crime in court. The defendant has a choice to testify or not to testify. If they choose to testify, the defendant loses his Fifth Amendment privilege and must answer the questions asked. However, at the trial the defendant who has been called to the witness stand by the grand jury can refuse to answer certain…

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dred Scott Vs Sanford Case

    • 1043 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In the founding of America, the founding fathers formed much of the structure that America is based on today. In the world today we still follow the same Federal System that the Americans did in the 1800’s. There have been many Supreme Court cases that have left an impact on our country, but none have left the impact that the Dred Scott versus Sanford decision left. In order to understand the Dred Scott versus Sanford case one must know: the function of the Supreme Courts , who Dred Scott was, and the impact that the case left on future presidents choosing their Supreme Court Justices. The Supreme Court was founded in 1789 because of the Judiciary Act of 1789.…

    • 1043 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The case of Gregg v. Georgia starts with a man named Troy Gregg. Troy was imprisoned by the state of Georgia after he was found guilty of armed robbery and murdering two people in 1973. Following Gregg’s trial, the jury found Tory Gregg guilty and sentenced him to death. Troy challenged his remaining death sentence for murder, asked for an appeal, and claimed that his capital sentence was cruel and unusual punishment, in violation of the 8th amendment. The Georgia state court ruled that the death penalty was for murder.…

    • 1040 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    On May 17, 1954, these men, members of the U.S. Supreme Court, ruled unanimously that racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional. In spring 1953, the Court heard the case but was unable to decide the issue and asked to rehear the case in fall 1953, with special attention to whether the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause prohibited the operation of separate public schools for whites and blacks. The Court reargued the case at the behest of Associate Justice Felix Frankfurter, who used reargument as a stalling tactic, to allow the Court to gather a consensus around a Brown opinion that would outlaw segregation. The justices in support of desegregation spent much effort convincing those who initially intended to dissent…

    • 1154 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays