Why You Do Not Want a Public Defender Representing You
Every day we receive many phone calls from persons who are being accused of serious crimes and are being represented by a public defender. They call a private California criminal defense attorney to ask to represent them because they feel strongly that their public defender is not doing a good job on their case. Some of the most common complaints we hear about the services being provided by the public defender are:
- They do not have time to handle my case because they have too many cases
- They never return my phone calls
- Every time I go to court I have a different public defender who knows nothing about my case
- They have not given me the police report to review
- They do not have time to do any investigation of my case
- They have not come to see me in jail even though I was arrested over two months ago
- They are telling me I should accept a plea bargain that I do not think is fair; and
- They will not fight for me in court
Public Defenders in the U.S.
In 2013, public defender’s offices are swamped with cases. The economy has made it impossible for many people to afford a criminal defense attorney when they are accused of a crime. This means that every public defender is being asked to handle a very large volume of cases. It is not unusual for one public defender to handle at least 25 to 50 cases per day. Can you imagine a doctor being asked to perform that many surgeries in a day? I sure would not want to have that doctor performing my surgery. Would you?
In a published article on the size of public defender caseloads, the following has been stated:
Public defender’s caseloads frequently far exceed national standards. For example, national standards limit felony cases to 150 a year per attorney. Yet felony caseloads of 500, 600, 800 or more are common for public defenders. A New York Times investigation found that some public defenders had a total caseload of over 1,600 cases annually. Unmanageable caseloads mean that many public defenders simply do not have time to do the most basic tasks, such as talk to their clients or conduct investigation of their case. Many individuals get nothing more than a few minutes of their public defender’s time and a hurried guilty plea. The result: miscarriages of justice and convictions of the innocent.
When you or a loved one is facing a criminal charge, can you afford this quality of legal representation?
California Criminal Defense Attorney
At Wallin and Klarich, we have been helping those accused of crimes for over 40 years. We successfully achieve positive results for our clients because we have the time to devote to their case. We will aggressively defend any person accused of a crime. You should settle for no less than Wallin and Klarich when you or a loved one is facing a serious crime.
We have offices in Orange County, Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, and Victorville. Call us today at 877-4-NO-JAIL or 877-466-5245. We will be there when you call.
