Under the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment, a state must inform illiterate defendants charged with a capital crime that they have a right to be represented by counsel and must appoint counsel for defendants who cannot afford to hire a lawyer and give counsel adequate time to prepare for trial. Decided November 7, 1932 (argued October 10, 1932). Opinion of the Court: George Sutherland → go there Dissenting: Butler. Applied: the Sixth Amendment → go there Applied: the Fourteenth Amendment → go there Topic: Right to counsel. Powell v. Alabama, 287 U.S. 45 (1932), is a landmark United States Supreme Court decision in which the court reversed the convictions of nine young black teenagers for allegedly raping two white women on a freight train near Scottsboro, Alabama. The majority of the court reasoned that the right to retain and be represented by a lawyer was fundamental to a fair trial and that at least in some circumstances, the trial judge must inform a defendant of this right. In addition, if the defendant cannot afford a lawyer, the court must appoint one sufficiently far in advance of trial to permit the lawyer to prepare adequately for the trial. Wiki link