In Chapter 1, Jean Louise "Scout" Finch is providing background information about her father, Atticus Finch. She is telling the story in retrospect and mentions that her father's first two clients were hanged in the Maycomb County jail. Atticus' first experience in the courtroom of Maycomb County is a rough one and is the reason he dislikes criminal law. She says,

"Atticus had urged them to accept the state's generosity in allowing them to plead Guilty to second-degree murder and escape with their lives..." (Lee 5)

Harper Lee capitalizes the "g" in the word "Guilty" to foreshadow Tom Robinson's eventual verdict later on in the novel. At the end of Chapter 21, the first word out of Judge Taylor's mouth when he begins to pull the jury's votes is "Guilty!" (Lee 282). Also, capitalizing the "g" adds emphasis to the word "Guilty" in Chapter 1, which indicates the significance that word will carry later on in the novel.