BLOUNTSTOWN — A fervent local advocate of the poor’s right to legal counsel has died.
Virgil Q. Mayo, of Blountstown, died Monday at age 90. Mayo was appointed the first public defender in the 14th Judicial Circuit, which consists of Bay and the five surrounding counties, after the landmark Gideon v. Wainwright case of 1963.
Mayo would brag that he was born in a Chattahoocheeinsane asylum where his father worked in 1924. As his surviving family members proceeded to his funeral Friday, they fondly looked back on his life since, his sense of humor and passion toward assisting the less fortunate — who at one time could be accused of a crime without representation in court.
“My dad was the greatest advocate for individual rights,” said Martin Mayo, Virgil Mayo’s son and an attorney in his own right. “The law to him was black and white, and he believed everybody, no matter what their crime, should be earnestly and zealously defended.”
Under Virgil Mayo, the public defender’s office in the 14th District had the highest acquittal rate in the state. Most of that could be attributed to the innovative trial tactics and jury selection processes he developed years ahead their time, Martin Mayo said.
“He always told me he wanted to know where they went to church, which liquor they drank and where they liked to socialize or party,” Martin Mayo said.
Then in July 1963, Gov. Farris Bryant appointed Mayo as the public defender for the 14th Judicial Circuit. The Blountstown attorney would hold the office of public defender, unopposed for almost 30 years, until he retired in 1992.
His legal interests only scratched the surface of his many pursuits, though.
Mayo was a voracious reader, a history buff and genealogist, a self-taught blacksmith, a champion gardener, a world traveler, an avid knife collector, a winning poker player, fisherman and hunter. At one time, he served as a Boy Scout Scoutmaster and more recently, a docent at the Panhandle Pioneer Settlement in Blountstown.
He was a member of the Elks Club and the American Legion. A loyal friend and family man, Virgil Mayo was also a dedicated Gator. Fifty years after graduating from the University of Florida, he was recognized as a member of the Gator Guard.
“He had a life fulfilled,” Martin Mayo said.
Family members encourage anyone who would like to donate to Virgil Mayo’s memory to send any contributions to the Panhandle Pioneer Settlement, 17869 NW Pioneer Settlement Rd., Blountstown, where he practiced the blacksmith trade.