Clarke v. State

Robert Clarke, appellant, was convicted in the Circuit Court of Claiborne County of assault and battery with intent to kill William Foster, and was sentenced to eighteen months in the state penitentiary. He was indigent, and unable to afford legal counsel. We hold that there was not an intelligent, competent, and effective waiver of counsel by defendant, and accordingly reverse and remand the case for a new trial.

Clarke, a Negro, is virtually an illiterate, having no more than a fourth grade education. After his arrest, he was brought before a justice of the peace, where without counsel he…