1. Public Defenders Want to Close Cases and Are Part of the “System”
Public Defenders offices throughout the country were created in response to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that people charged with a crime which could lead to being jailed have a right to a lawyer to give the appearance that the Criminal Justice System is ‘fair”. It’s not.
Public Defenders are part of the “system” and paid by the same county that pays the DA’s Office, Law Enforcement Agencies and the Judges. Their job is to process you like a piece of meat at a cattle butchering plant and get your case “disposed” (resolved) by getting you to pleading as quickly as possible.
Because public defenders are constantly overworked and overburdened with cases, generally do not have the resources or time to develop strategies to help their clients attain their best possible outcomes in a case, they usually simply close cases as fast as they can and move on to the next one (and thousands more).
Simply put, the Public Defender’s role is to simply convey (tell you) the DA’s plea bargain offer and “twist your arm” to accept it. If you don’t like it or think it’s unfair, too bad. You will be required to attend every court hearing (unlike those represented by private attorneys who can appear n their behalf without being personally present) until you finally give up and take the offer.
1. Public Defenders Want to Close Cases and Are Part of the “System”
Public Defenders offices throughout the country were created in response to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that people charged with a crime which could lead to being jailed have a right to a lawyer to give the appearance that the Criminal Justice System is ‘fair”. It’s not.
Public Defenders are part of the “system” and paid by the same county that pays the DA’s Office, Law Enforcement Agencies and the Judges. Their job is to process you like a piece of meat at a cattle butchering plant and get your case “disposed” (resolved) by getting you to pleading as quickly as possible.
Because public defenders are constantly overworked and overburdened with cases, generally do not have the resources or time to develop strategies to help their clients attain their best possible outcomes in a case, they usually simply close cases as fast as they can and move on to the next one (and thousands more).
Finally, Public Defender’s role is to simply convey (tell you) the DA’s plea bargain offer and “twist your arm” to accept it. If you don’t like it or think it’s unfair, too bad. You will be required to attend every court hearing (unlike those represented by private attorneys who can appear n their behalf without being personally present) until you finally give up and take the offer.
2. Public Defenders Are Often Inexperienced or Unskilled
It’s just a fact that public defender jobs are often some of the lowest-paying attorney jobs out there as few jurisdictions make paying high compensation for criminal defense a top priority for tax dollars. Without a doubt, many fantastic criminal defense attorneys got their start working in public defenders’ offices but, for the most part, you are often getting attorneys just out of law school with little to no supervision or experience in obtaining the proper results for their clients.
Those who remain with the Public Defender’s office usually are “lifer’s”, who stay on despite being “burned out” by the never ending volume of defendants they have to represent day in and day out, so they can collect a paycheck and retirement benefits for “doing their duty”–to the system, not you.
3. Public Defenders Spend Little Time On Your Case & Are Inaccessible
In almost every courthouse and jurisdiction, public defenders are overworked and often have hundreds of defendants whom they are assigned to defend. This means that a public defender may spend only a matter of minutes on case on the date your case is set for a hearing but do nothing in between court hearings to get a better outcome for you.
Public defenders are extraordinarily hard to reach, don’t respond to telephone calls, emails, etc. They have huge caseloads (40-50 new defendants each and every day on top of cases where their client’s “hold out” for a better “deal”) and are in court every day of the week trying to “process” as many people through the “system” as fast as possible.
4. No Other Choice
Like everything else in the world, you may have the best lawyer or a bad lawyer, and this is often a matter of choice. However, you don’t get to choose your Public Defender.
When you elect to go with a Public Defender, you will typically be stuck with whoever is assigned to your case, from the beginning to the end, or go thru multiple new PD’s “re-assigned to the department your case is in who know next to nothing about your case until they see you in court.
5. Public Defender are Not “Free”
The fines for nearly every criminal charge is set by statute (law). It is a tiny fraction of the fines and penalties you will be expected to pay when you change to plea to guilty. Why? Because “Penalty Assessments” are added to the fine amount to fund the courts, the DA’s Office, the law Enforcement Agency that arrested and the Public Defender’s office “get their cut” too.
Another component that most people who “settle” for a Public Defender forget is that they lose something in the process. Namely their freedom. There are hundreds of thousands of people in jail throughout the country who are innocent and/or were not made aware by their “free” Public defender” that they had legitimate defenses available to them but never knew because their Public Defender didn’t tell them.
Rely on a public defender because it’s “free” and you will regret it for the rest of your life. On the other hand, you get to choose a private attorney based on who you believe will be committed to obtaining the best results possible for your particular situation. Having a choice in who defends you in a criminal matter is critical to the outcome of your case.
Here’s that article (again from the top of this page) about Public Defender’s track record complete with stats showing why you’re in “deep trouble” if you choose to go with a Public Defender because you think it’s “free”. Read the article. Read it all. Then make up your mind. After all, it’s your choice you represents you.
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