In the 1892 case of Lascelles v. Georgia, the U.S Supreme Court upheld a conviction for murder in the state of Georgia. The defendant, Mr. Lascelles, was convicted and sentenced to death by hanging for killing his wife's lover after discovering their affair. He appealed on grounds that he had been denied due process because certain evidence was excluded from his trial and that there were errors in jury instructions regarding self-defense laws. The court rejected these arguments stating that it found no error in how Georgia courts handled the case or interpreted its own laws concerning self-defense and provocation which led to manslaughter instead of murder charges if proven true. Furthermore, it held that while states must respect fundamental principles of liberty and justice when conducting trials under Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause; they have wide latitude in determining what kind of evidence is admissible at trial as long as those decisions do not violate basic standards fairness. Therefore, even though some potentially exculpatory evidence may have been excluded during Mr.Lascelles' trial; this did not necessarily mean he had been denied fair opportunity to defend himself against charges brought against him according to prevailing legal norms at time thus affirming his conviction.

In the dissenting opinion for Lascelles v. Georgia, it was argued that the defendant's constitutional rights were violated due to a lack of proper legal representation during his trial. The dissenting justices believed that Mr. Lascelles' counsel failed to adequately represent him and did not provide an effective defense strategy, which resulted in an unfair trial. They contended that this failure constituted a violation of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel and thus warranted a new trial for Mr. Lascelles.