At one time the Public Defender
provided legal defense for indigent people accused of capital crimes. Over
time the role of the public defender evolved into providing legal defense for
people charged with any type of felony.
That trend spawned a television
show called The Public Defender. The
show presented the roll of the public defender in the most unrealistic and loftiest
of terms. It starred the ubiquitous Reed Hadley playing the part of the sharply
tailored and relentless public defender. At the start of every week’s episode Reed
informed viewers the office of public defender was charged with the
responsibility of providing legal defense to anyone who cannot afford it but, who
seeks it. Well the world has changed
quite a bit since 1955 and that utopian concept no longer applies to today’s big
city public defenders. Today’s public defenders are anything but relentless.
They are usually bottom feeding lawyers in private practice contracted by the
state to provide dubiously competent legal services to anyone accused of a
crime who cannot afford an attorney.
Even though you may be under the
impression that you are not paying your public defender because he is appointed
by the court, don’t let that appearance of benevolence fool you. You will likely be ordered to provide
financial information to the court and you will then be charged an attorney fee
tailored to your income and budget.
The vast majority of chargeable
offenses do not rise to the level of capital crimes. But first time offenders charged
with crimes of assault or DUI and many other crimes can find themselves facing
many years in jail without competent representation to either mitigate their
circumstances through either plea bargaining with the prosecutor, or waging an
aggressive defense at trial. There are many examples of peoples’ right being
trampled on at the point of arrest because they were not properly informed of their
rights by arresting officers. Many times even doing what one thinks is the
right thing to do by telling a police officer everything he wants to know, can
serve only to expose one to even stiffer penalties than he may have suffered
had he kept his mouth shut until he could obtain competent legal counsel.
But don’t confuse competent legal
counsel with the counsel you will receive from the public defender. You will likely not even meet your public
defender until your first appearance in court, and she will likely not even recognize
you, in addition to being burdened down with numerous other cases that day. What a comforting feeling, right. And
then she will likely read you a litany of possible penalties and encourage you
to plead guilty in hopes of negotiating a minimal sentence. In some cases even
a minimal sentence can still mean years of prison time. There will be little
talk of innocence. The public defender is not your friend. The old adage you get what you pay for definitely will
apply when you place your faith in the public defender. And it doesn’t end
after your first appearance in court.
Besides having limited or no contact
with your public defender prior to your arraignment hearing, you will most
likely have no contact in the months intervening months prior to trial. If you
are the kind of person who likes to know the score it is unlikely you will get
it from anyone other than a disinterested receptionist sitting behind bullet
proof glass in a seedy low rent law office furnished by pieces from the
Goodwill.
Anyone who has ever been represented by a public defender may
tell you they were left with the impression that their lawyer seemed to be
working for the prosecution. And that is not too far from the truth, at least
indirectly. Public defenders are great at working out plea agreements that work
to the prosecution’s advantage, and which also work to the public defender’s
advantage by quickly disposing of cases without the time expended for trial
preparation . . . next case, as they
say. Plea agreements are not unique and are almost standard operating
procedure. Put another way, the public defender in most cases whether they are defensible
or not already knows what he can get the prosecution to agree to under state
law, and pretty much already knows what he can get the prosecution to agree to
under the circumstances of the individual case.
If this article sounds way too cynical than it has achieved
its purpose. When you hire a public defender you are not hiring a Reed Hadley
public defender. You are hiring an overworked, under paid and under qualified
lawyer who does not even care to know you.
Before you place your freedom in the hands of a public
defender, schedule a free consultation with a lawyer knowledgeable in the crime
you are charged, and who can demonstrate track record of success. Know your rights and your options and how
each will impact your life down the road.
Even if you still decide to go with the public defender at
least you will have made an informed decision.
