Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Most public defenders are pretty good lawyers, although they do tend to be overworked.

Your uncle is probably better off with his public defender than with an attorney willing to take this case for bargain-basement fees. Those guys make up for low prices by taking lots of cases, and often wind up with as many clients as a public defender... plus the added headache of running a law office.

The public defender's office will also have other resources such as investigators who can help with the case.

For some reason, many people think they will find an attorney who is willing to work for free and will do a better job than a dedicated, full time public defender. However, lawyers are like doctors, mechanics, plumbers or any other professional; they have nothing to sell but their time, and most can't afford to work for free.

I strongly suggest that you and your family support your uncle's public defender as much as you can.

I personally believe that a qualified private attorney who works hard for a client is far better than most public defenders. Most public defenders have far too many cases to spend the amount of time neccessary on a criminal mater such as child molestation. I would advise anyone charged with a child abuse case to retain a highly qualified private attorney who handles those specific types of charges. I wish you well...David Wallin

Help will come by you hiring an attorney for him. If he or you can't afford private counsel, he'll have to stick with the Public Defender. Other than that, if she wants to obtain counsel to help with fighting the licensing problem through the administrative appeals process, feel free to have her contact me to discuss the facts and costs.

There is no way to predict or comment on how well your uncle is currently being represented without knowing who the assigned public defender is. The same would be true if we were talking about a privately-retained case. There are many hacks out there who charge good money to do a lousy job. I am currently trying to help an innocent person who had a fabulous public defender, who, unfortunately had to conflict off and the case went to a bar panel attorney who also accepts private cases and was known to be one of the worst trial attorneys you could ever have.

I agree with Mr. Marshall, these types of cases require a lot of work and investigative resources. If you can't afford a lawyer, then your uncle has no choice but to work with the public defender. There are many things, though, that he can do to improve his chances of getting the most from his lawyer. If you contact me directly, I will give you some ideas and my personal opinion of the assigned PD.

I disagree with Mr. Wallin. Most good public defenders know how to triage their cases so that they can devote more time to those clients asserting factual innocence. Some of the best trial lawyers in L.A. are public defenders.