Powell V. Alabama

Powell v. Alabama 287 U.S. 45 (1932) was a United States Supreme Court decision which determined that in a capital trial, the defendant must be given access to counsel upon his or her own request as part of due process.

Powell was the first time the Court had reversed a state criminal conviction for a violation of a criminal procedural provision of the United States Bill of Rights. The only prior reversals of state criminal convictions had held that racial segregation in jury selection violated the Equal Protection Clause.