Question Details	Asked By	Asked On
What kind of defense can someone expect for free?	powderpuff	11/12/05
If someone is arrested for felonious assault, is a free public defender going to be enough? I was told that an appointed public defender will not spend more than a couple minutes with the accused, and only then, immediately before court appearances. The public defenders are, after all, swamped with representing all those arrested the day before and have too many cases to actually talk with the defendant and present an accurate defense for any of his appointed cases. What I was told is, arrested people have a right to a competent attorney, not a right to an attorney that will present the best defense....(or even any defense). From my observations in a court room last week, that appeared to be the situation. Ok, so it is my understanding that a competent attorney is all anyone has a right to. A competent attorney would be someone who has a license to practice law, I'm guessing that would be a minimum to qualify as a competent attorney? What about a right to a fair trial? How can anyone believe that an accused person will get a fair trial if his court appointed free public defender will never hear a description of the situation from the accused's point of view, and therefore, will never present the defendant's position to the judge/jury? I thought people had a right to a fair trial, was I wrong?
Answered By		Answered On
CeeBee2		11/12/05
I would guess public defenders are so swamped these days that they can't give adequate time to those who need their services. Unfortunately, they may consider the client guilty as accused which also influences how much (or little) effort they put into the case. And no, that's not fair. Every defendant is entitled to a fair trial. The lawyer shouldn't even wonder about guilt; it's "innocent until proven guilty". The police work may have been faulty, there may be mistaken identity - and many other things can be the reason someone is in jail. In this area there is a large legal group that does low-cost/sliding-scale representation. They have a good reputation for taking time with their clients and doing their best for them. I personally think many of our laws and penalties have to be changed so that the jails and prisons aren't so overcrowded, and defendants will get fair representation.

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