Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

She can't just pick and choose her public defender. She gets whoever their office assigns to the case. The procedure to try and get another is a Marsden motion. If the attorney-client relationship has broken down so substantially that the court feels a different attorney must be pointed, then they will. Marsden motions are a thing of last resort for a defendant typically.

I'd suggest she try and set a meeting with her attorney. Yes, public defenders are overworked, but they should be able to make time to speak with her.

If she is still unsatisfied with the representation, she is always free to hire the attorney of her choosing.

Most Public Defenders are placed in an impossible situation. Each P.D.usually has between 15 to 30 cases a day. So they have very little time to do much more than to quickly go over a police report and maybe talk to each client more than 5 to 10 minutes and then see what the D.A. is offering. Even if the court granted your Marsden motion, you would only get another overworked P.D. with the same case-load and the same impossible job.The system cannot say its own system is not sufficient...it's all the system has. If you really care about having the best chance at the best result you need to retain a qualified defense attorney in or near your area.. Sorry, but that's the reality of the system. It may be the best system on the planet, but until someone has someone they love on the wrong side of the system, no-one really cares. I wish you the best ...Dave Wallin