hamilton alabama argued october decided november alabama arraignment critical stage criminal proceeding may defense insanity pleaded pleas abatement motions challenging composition grand jury made petitioner arraigned without counsel alabama capital offense pleaded guilty subsequently convicted sentenced death held absence counsel petitioner time arraignment violated rights due process clause fourteenth amendment pp reversed constance motley argued cause petitioner brief orzell billingsley peter hall thurgood marshall jack greenberg james nabrit iii george mentz assistant attorney general alabama argued cause respondent briefs macdonald gallion attorney general james webb john bookout assistant attorneys general justice douglas delivered opinion capital case petitioner sentenced death count indictment charging breaking entering dwelling night intent ravish petitioner appealed claiming denied counsel time arraignment alabama although stating right counsel state federal constitutions included right counsel time arraignment reach merits claim require impeaching minute entries trial may done alabama appeal petitioner sought certiorari alabama responded saying remedy attack judgment extrinsic evidence way coram nobis denied certiorari petitioner thereupon proceeded way coram nobis alabama courts alabama recognizing petitioner right state law code represented counsel time arraignment denied relief showing effort show petitioner disadvantaged way absence counsel interposed plea guilty case certiorari arraignment alabama law critical stage criminal proceeding defense insanity must pleaded code opportunity lost morrell state thereafter plea may made except discretion trial judge refusal accept revisable appeal rohn state cf garrett state pleas abatement must also made time arraignment code motions quash based systematic exclusion one race grand juries reeves state ground grand jury otherwise improperly drawn whitehead state must made whatever may function importance arraignment jurisdictions said enough show alabama critical stage criminal proceeding happens may affect whole trial available defenses may irretrievably lost asserted accused represented counsel waives right strategic purposes cf canizio new york powell alabama said accused capital case requires guiding hand counsel every step proceedings without though guilty faces danger conviction know establish innocence guiding hand counsel needed trial lest unwary concede bewilderment ignorance justify pay penalty greater law state exacts offense fact law committed tomkins missouri pitfalls like ones face accused alabama arraigned without counsel side one pleads capital charge without benefit counsel stop determine whether prejudice resulted williams kaiser house mayo uveges pennsylvania case degree prejudice never known presence counsel enabled accused know defenses available plead intelligently reversed footnotes minute entries indicated petitioner counsel arraignment petitioner first indicted burglary arraigned counsel present later present indictment relating incident returned counsel appointed advised petitioner lawyer appeared arraignment read alabama opinion mean earlier appointment carry arraignment differing consequences various jurisdictions federal law arraignment sine qua non trial preliminary stage accused informed indictment pleads thereby formulating issue tried crain rules federal rules criminal procedure view led hold arraignment first step trial least case felonies accused entitled attorney people kurant arraignment part trial mere formal preliminary step answer plea ex parte jeffcoat arraignment normally however affords opportunity accused plead condition precedent trial fowler state tex cr rules practice rule