Winton Frederick Turner (April 17, 1922 – November 23, 2003) was an American attorney. He successfully defended

Clarence Earl Gideon Clarence Earl Gideon (August 30, 1910 – January 18, 1972) was a poor drifter accused in a Florida state court of felony breaking and entering. While in prison, he appealed his case to the US Supreme Court, resulting in the landmark 1963 decisio ...

in his retrial after the 1963 Supreme Court case of ''

Gideon v. Wainwright ''Gideon v. Wainwright'', 372 U.S. 335 (1963), was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in which the Court ruled that the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution requires U.S. states to provide attorneys to criminal defendants who are unable ...

'' overturned his first conviction. The story behind this case was told in Anthony Lewis's 1964 book ''

Gideon's Trumpet ''Gideon's Trumpet'' is a 1964 book by Anthony Lewis describing the story behind the 1963 landmark court case ''Gideon v. Wainwright'', in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that criminal defendants have the right to an attorney e ...

''. There was also a 1980 made-for-TV film called ''

'' in which

Lane Smith Walter Lane Smith III (April 29, 1936 – June 13, 2005) was an American actor. His well-known roles included newspaper editor Perry White in the ABC series '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'', Walter Warner in ''Son in Law'', coll ...

played Turner and Henry Fonda played Gideon. Turner was born in Millville,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, now part of

Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...

. He joined the

Army Air Corps Army Air Corps may refer to the following army aviation corps: * Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), the army aviation element of the British Army * Philippine Army Air Corps (1935–1941) * United States Army Air Corps (1926–1942), or its p ...

, the precursor to the present-day

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

, after high school and was a supply officer in the

308th Bombardment Group 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He rose to the rank of captain before leaving for the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in Gainesville. After graduating in 1948, he returned to Bay County to practice law.

Gideon's case

Clarence Earl Gideon was a drifter convicted of petty theft from a pool hall; at the trial he was denied a lawyer. His appeal to the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

was accepted, and the decision ordered that counsel be provided in all criminal cases. Gideon's conviction was not overturned, but he was to be tried again. Gideon chose Turner to be his lawyer for his second trial. The retrial took place on August 5, 1963, five months after the Supreme Court ruling. By destroying the credibility of the prosecution's key witness through exposing contradictions with other eyewitnesses and the witness's self-admittedly false statements (such as about his prior criminal record), Turner won an acquittal for Gideon. The jury acquitted Gideon after one hour of deliberation.

After ''Gideon''

Turner worked as a private attorney until 1979, when he was appointed and subsequently elected to a circuit judge seat. At age 70, he retired from the bench in 1991. His wife Helen died in 1997. Turner died in 2003 at age 81 at his home in Panama City. He was survived by three children and three grandchildren.

References

External links

History of Office of Public Defender, Second Judicial Circuit - Leon County Florida
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, W. Fred 1922 births 2003 deaths Florida lawyers University of Florida alumni 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II