The Supreme Court Case of Brewer v. Williams

Paper Summary:

This paper is written in response to the important decisions which were handed down by the Supreme Court in Brewer v. Williams, regarding the disappearance of ten year old Pamela Powers in Des Moines, Iowa. It presents an overview of the case, including the question which the Court was prompted to answer, the facts of the case and the rational the Court used in deciding the way in which it did. The paper looks at prior cases involving the right to counsel, as well as cases following the Brewer decision, and an argument as to why this case is of a significant benefit to American Law.

From the Paper:

"In order to understand how the Court reached its ruling, it's important to understand some of the significant cases prior to Williams. In Massiah v. United States 377 U.S. 201 (1964) the Supreme Court ruled that once a suspect has been indicted and retains a lawyer, the police cannot (through any means) try to illicit incriminating statements from the suspect, in order to use at trial; thus, it was a direct violation of Massiah's Right to Counsel. In Miranda v. Arizona 384 U.S. 436 (1966) the Court held that if there is a determination that a suspect is deprived of movement in a significant way, and is also being interrogated, he must be informed of his rights prior to questioning."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Del Carmen, R. (2004). Criminal Procedure: Law and Practice.
• Istael, Kamisar, King, & Lafave. (2005). Basic Criminal Procedure.
• Kamisar, Y. (1984). Michigan Law Review, Vol. 8, No 4.
• Minas, M. (2002). Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, Vol.93 Issue 1.

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