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Ferguson v. Georgia, 365 U.S. 570 (1961)
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General SummaryThis case is from a collection containing the full text of over 16,000 Supreme Court cases from 1793 to the present. The body of Supreme Court decisions are, effectively, the final interpretation of the Constitution. Only an amendment to the Constitution can permanently overturn an interpretation and this has happened only four times in American history.
Ferguson v. Georgia, 365 U.S. 570 (1961)
Ferguson v. Georgia No. 44 Argued November 14-15, 1960 Decided March 27, 1961 365 U.S. 570
APPEAL FROM THE SUPREME COURT OF GEORGIA
Syllabus
The Georgia Code, § 38-416, makes a person charged with a criminal offense incompetent to testify under oath in his own behalf at his trial; but § 38-415 gives him the right to make an unsworn statement to the jury without subjecting himself to cross-examination. At the trial in a state court in which appellant was convicted of murder, his counsel was denied the right to ask him any questions when he took the stand to make his unsworn statement.
Held: this application of § 38-415 denied appellant the effective assistance of his counsel at a crucial point in his trial, and it violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Pp. 570-596.
215 Ga. 117, 109 S.E.2d 44, reversed.
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Chicago: U.S. Supreme Court, "Syllabus," Ferguson v. Georgia, 365 U.S. 570 (1961) in 365 U.S. 570 Original Sources, accessed November 24, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=XE8BKA5QK5LQ8YV.
MLA: U.S. Supreme Court. "Syllabus." Ferguson v. Georgia, 365 U.S. 570 (1961), in 365 U.S. 570, Original Sources. 24 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=XE8BKA5QK5LQ8YV.
Harvard: U.S. Supreme Court, 'Syllabus' in Ferguson v. Georgia, 365 U.S. 570 (1961). cited in 1961, 365 U.S. 570. Original Sources, retrieved 24 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=XE8BKA5QK5LQ8YV.
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