Bad Counsel

If you have ever been arrested and went to jail, then your probably familiar with titles and terms like; Pubic Pretender, Dump Truck; my attorney laid down on me. or worse I got Railroaded. Attorneys are given broad powers when it comes to strategy and I.A.C. (ineffective assistance of counsel) claims are hard to prove in appeal. It may be a Constitutional Right to be afforded Representation when your accused of a crime, but consider yourself special if your appointed counsel put up a fight for you. All Public Defenders are to have passed the Bar Examination like any other attorney, and therefore qualified to represent you in court, however public defenders do nothing more than expedite all cases as smooth and quickly as possible, the last thing they want to do is bog down the court and fight every case because the client might be innocent. Doing so would piss off the judge and make enemies in the D.A.s Office; no P.D. will go against the grain and slow down the wheels of justice for your ass. Public Defenders have heavy case loads, are over worked, underpaid, and refuse to be used by the accused. With overcrowded courtrooms and jails, the States budget crisis, government cutbacks; Public Defenders are county employees, going to bat for you is to say, very unlikely. Under certain circumstances a question of conflict of interest may arise and the court will appoint a State Appointed Attorney; as when two or more people are accused of the same crime, one defendant gets a P.D. and the co-defendant a State Appointed. All criminal defense attorneys, private practice or not, will be called to serve the State and represent an indigent defendant pro-bono. Sometimes youll luck out and get a good State Appointed Attorney, but that doesnt mean theyll fight for you. It takes time to prepare for trial, and time is money. There are exceptions though, maybe the lawyer represents a high-end law firm and name is everything, or a really good trial attorney and batting 100, perhaps fresh out of law school; a hotshot will go for the win just to keep the record. Then there is the dark side to our judicial system, party-favors, those things that take place behind closed doors; the numbers game. Picture the D.A. and his old friend your Attorney whispering at the barbeque; You give me the Snider case and Ill give you the next two, there are many forms of corruption in our judicial system. Written in Raw Ink By Jeff Hairabedian