What do I need to know about the Public Defender’s Office?

The following statement is neither “new” nor “controversial”:  The Public Defender’s Office is extremely overworked.  Due to almost unrealistic budget-constraints, hard working Assistant Public Defenders are constantly being forced to do ‘more’ with ‘less’.  For example, calling the criminal justice system “terribly underfunded”, the July 5, 2008 Orlando Sentinel quoted the elected Public Defender for Orange and Osceola counties (Robert Wesley) as saying that on average, his office spends the tiny sum of $200.00 per case to defend each Public Defender client!  That may sound acceptable if all you need is to have the drive belt changed in your washing machine, but when your liberty is on the line in a criminal prosecution...?

Can I just wait to see if I get a “bad” plea offer, and then hire a private attorney?

In theory you could, but generally this is very unwise for numerous reasons.  Suffice it to say that I prefer to be contacted within a week or two of an arrest, not a month or two.   This allows me to start defending you from earliest point forward-- doing things my own way-- instead of having to get passed the baton from another attorney, and possibly having to then confront a Prosecutor and Judge whose thoughts about the case have become chiseled in stone.  If you wait too long to seek to hire me, I might have to politely “pass” on your case.  That is why I offer a free, no-obligation, office consultation.