Court Appointed Attorneys
Whenever you are charged with a crime plus your liberty is somehow threatened (for example, with potential jail time), you’re entitled under the United States constitution to being represented by an attorney.
Get Legal Help Early
It is critical to possess a criminal defense lawyer to fully handle your case at the earliest opportunity along the way, ideally at arraignment. A criminal defense attorney can:
- Challenge probable cause for arrest
- Argue in favor of being released on your own recognizance or on very low bail
- Negotiate plea bargains with prosecutors
- Discuss the pros and cons of going to trial
- Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of pleading guilty
Getting a Public Defender Appointed
If you fail to afford to employ legal counsel belonging to the private legal community, a legal court can contract a government-paid lawyer known as the “public defender” to fully handle your case.
In order to have a public defender, you need to convince the judge that you simply can’t afford to hire a lawyer on your own. The judge may ask you to submit a form detailing your financial resources, assets, income and debts. You may also have to provide the court with documentation such as paystubs to prove your income level.
Standards for the amount of money you possibly can make and still be eligible for a a public defender change greatly among states, and sometimes from one court to another.
In rural areas and in courts with meager resources, there may not be public defenders on staff with the court to represent you. In that case, the court will most likely appoint a private attorney at public expense, or assign a private attorney from a volunteer attorney list to fully handle your case.
In a few courts, judges allow for what’s called “partial indigency” representation: you have the help of a public defender, but are expected to reimburse the court a part of the expense of representation after the trial.
If you give false information to the court that allows you to get a public defender appointed, you could be charged with the crime of falsifying information.
If the court settles that you will be making too much money to be eligible for a public defender, you have to immediately begin looking to get a private attorney to defend you.
Disadvantages of a Public Defender
One downside of being represented by way of a public defender is the fact that these government-paid legal professionals often have a big overload of cases, and cannot commit time and effort to any case. As a result, you could have minimum access to your lawyer except during actual court hearings.
Public defenders almost always lack office equipment and adequate research access, and can’t afford to rent investigators to properly flesh your case.
Public defenders in many cases are young and inexperienced, and are also “cutting their teeth” on high-volume misdemeanor cases such as DWIs.
A public defender also won’t have the capacity to assist you with related civil law or administrative matters (such as driver’s license revocation hearings in the DWI case). You’ll need to hire an outside attorney that may help you with these concerns.
Advantages of a Public Defender
Public defenders work with the same judges and prosecutors day in and day out, and study their personal quirks, peeves and tolerances. They also see the same police officers testifying, and know who’s apt to be a bad (and good) witness.
Public defenders usually operate in “niched” elements of legal specialty, for instance DWI or domestic violence defense. So they are more likely to be up-to-date on new legal and law theories inside their part of specialty.
A public defender may very well be very efficient at comprehending your case and presenting a suitable plea bargain deal towards the prosecutor and judge. As a result, you should be through with the criminal process and on with the rest of your life sooner than had you been represented by the private attorney.
Second Guessing Your Public Defender
Once you have been appointed a public defender, it has been extremely tough, if not impossible, to have your attorney replaced with another public defender.
In case you are having doubts about advice your public defender provides you with, make an appointment for a “second opinion” consultation with a private criminal defense attorney. Most lawyers will consult for a small fee, and you’ll have the peace of mind of knowing your public defender is on track.
For help with a Savannah criminal defense, select a DUI lawyer Savannah Georgia.