Named after the landmark Supreme Court case, Gideon vs. Wainwright, Gideons Army follows three young lawyers in the South as they prepare their cases for trial, and follows them through their dramatic conclusions.

Travis Williams puts framed copies of not guilty rulings from his trials on his wall; hes so dedicated he has a tattoo of the name of every defendant whose case hes lost. Now he has five tattoos, explaining, They are going to go on my back because they will live with me forever. Travis, whos been a public defender less than a year, represents 120 clients. One, Branden Mullin, has been accused of armed robbery and faces ten years to life in prison. Talking with a co-worker, Travis says Branden was in the wrong place at the wrong time, hanging with a bunch of dummies.
But now Branden is facing life in prison without parole  all for $96 that was robbed from a pizza delivery man.

Brandy Alexander has been a public defender for three years. Trying cases is an adrenaline rush, she says, and when you win theres a high. But that is not the average day of a public defender. Brandy is preparing to go to trial on behalf of a client, Demontes Wright, a young man charged with armed robbery and facing a 10 year minimum sentence. Win, lose or draw, tears will fall, says Brandy, because I dont think hes guilty. Demontes mother describes the arrest: police burst into their home, threw the family onto the floor (including her young daughter), then cuffed and arrested Demontes, who was only 17 at the time. Demontes says he knew he couldnt afford a lawyer, so he prayed that he would get a good public defender. God answered my prayers, he says.

Travis and Brandy are part of the Southern Public Defender Training Center (SPDTC), which trains and mentors public defenders. With low pay, staggering student loan bills, and the stress of working with some clients who commit horrific crimes, its no surprise that many public defenders leave, says SPDTC founder Jonathan Rapping. Lawyers like Travis and Brandy are doing the most difficult work in the most difficult places. June Hardwick, a public defender in Jackson, Mississippi, also participates in SPDTC. Its an honor for me to represent my clients, she says as she visits a jail to meet with a client, Sharon, who had a bad experience with her previous public defender.

We learn that Travis mother abandoned him as a young boy and he never knew his father, which helps him identify with his client, Branden, whose mother left when he was 12. Personal stress also weighs on Brandy, who recently collapsed in court from exhaustion. She shows a huge pile of student loan bills before scraping together $3 in change to pay for gas. Her spirits are lifted when her dad visits on her birthday, and they go skydiving to celebrate.

As his case is about to go to trial, Brandens friend Cody, who was also arrested during the robbery, becomes a witness for the prosecution, agreeing to say he committed the crime with Branden. Since Branden and his family have decided to take a plea as a result, Travis now focuses on getting Branden a lesser sentence so he wont go to maximum security prison. As for Brandy, she says Demontes case will rest on whether witnesses can pinpoint identifying factors about Demontes at the time of the crime. The stakes are extremely high for both  and after Travis and Brandy have given their all for their clients, its up to the judge and the jury to decide their clients fates.

Credits: Directed and Produced by Dawn Porter; Produced by Julie Goldman; Edited by Matthew Hamachek; CoProducer: Summer Damon; Original Music by Paul Brill. For HBO: Senior Producers: Nancy Abraham, Jacqueline Glover; Executive Producer: Sheila Nevins