Though the Constitution promises that every defendant gets a lawyer regardless of whether they can afford one and the Mississippi Supreme Court has issued rules to ensure the state’s judges deliver on this promise, most felony defendants who appeared in Yalobusha County’s Justice Court in 2022 went without any lawyer at all. (Zeke Peña, special to ProPublica)
The right to an attorney is fundamental to the U.S. justice system. Yet, in a small Mississippi court off the interstate between Jackson and Memphis, that right is tenuous.
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Kayla Williams asked repeatedly for a court-appointed lawyer in Yalobusha County Justice Court, but she didn’t get one. Since last summer, she has navigated the justice system alone in her fight against a charge that carries a possible 20-year prison sentence. (Rory Doyle for ProPublica )
Rory Doyle
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The courthouse in Water Valley, Mississippi (Rory Doyle for ProPublica )
Rory Doyle
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Justice Court Judge Trent Howell signed this order forwarding Williams’ case for consideration by a grand jury. A handwritten note on the order says the court determined that Williams wasn’t indigent, but Howell didn’t ask Williams any questions to learn why she said she couldn’t afford an attorney. (Obtained by the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, The Marshall Project and ProPublica. Highlighted by ProPublica .)
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