Public Defenders
According to the United States constitution, anybody who is accused of a crime and whose liberty is somehow threatened, like for instance with potential jail time, is entitled to be represented by a lawyer. It is obviously very important to have a criminal defense lawyer to represent you as soon as possible in the process. You should be reminded that if you have a criminal defense lawyer, the latter 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 advantages and disadvantages of pleading guilty instead of going to trial. These are only a few advantages.
Everyone has the right to have a lawyer, even people with low incomes. If you cannot afford to hire a lawyer from the private legal community, the court can appoint a government-paid lawyer, called a public defender to represent you. You will have to prove to the judge that you cannot actually afford to hire an attorney on your own in order to qualify for a public defender. You may be asked by the judge to fill out a form detailing your financial resources, assets, income and debts.
There is no standard minimum level of income to qualify for public defenders. The amount can vary greatly from state to state, and sometimes from one court to another. In some rural areas and in courts with low resources, there might not be public defenders on staff with the court to represent you. In that case, the court will usually appoint a private attorney at public expense, or assign a private attorney from a volunteer attorney list to represent you. Or in other courts, judges can allow for partial representation. It means that you have the help of a public defender, but are expected to reimburse the court some of the cost of representation after the trial. If you cheated the court in order to get a public defender appointed, you may be charged with the crime of falsifying information.
By having a public defender, it may benefit to you since they work with the same judges and prosecutors day in and day out. They are more experienced in all the mazes of administration. As a result, a public defender is likely to be very efficient at sizing up your case and presenting an acceptable plea bargain deal to the prosecutor and judge.
However you should know that having a public defender can have some disadvantages. Indeed these government-paid lawyers might not devote so much time to your case because they have a huge overload of cases. Second, a public defender also will not be able to assist you with related civil law or administrative matters. You will need to hire a separate attorney to help you with these concerns. Eventually, even if you have doubts about the competences of your public defender, it will be very difficult to change of lawyer.
