Gideon v. Wainwright 372 U.S. 335, 83 S. Ct. 792, 9 L. Ed.2d 799 (1963) Gideon was arrested for robbery. He asked the judge to appoint him counsel, but the judge refused. In that jurisdiction, counsel was only appointed for cases involving a capital offense. Gideon was convicted and sentenced to prison. From prison, Gideon handwrote a letter directly to the US Supreme Court asking for relief. Surprisingly, the Court decided to hear the case. Gideon argued that without counsel, he could not get a fair trial, and that violated the 6th Amendment. "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right... to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence." The US Supreme Court overturned the conviction and appointed Gideon legal counsel. The US Supreme Court had long held that the 6th Amendment required counsel, but until this time had held that the 6th Amendment only applied to Federal Cases. See Betts v. Brady (316 U.S. 455 (1942)). See Powell v. Alabama (287 U.S. 45 (1932)), which used a case-by-case basis approach to determine when a lawyer was required for due process to be satisfied. The Court overruled Betts and found that the 14th Amendment requires that the States adopt the 6th Amendment guarantee of appointed counsel because it is a fundamental right that is essential for a fair trial. Upon remand, and with an appointed counsel, the Trial Court found Gideon innocent and set him free. The case applied what was known as the selective incorporation approach for incorporating the Bill of Rights into State law. The other approaches are the fundamental fairness approach and the total incorporation approach. See Palko v. Connecticut (302 U.S. 319 (1937)). This case finally established that indigent defendants have a right to free counsel in all criminal prosecutions in all courts in the US (in 1963!).