Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: public Defender

The most serious drawback of having a public defender instead of a retained lawyer is that PDs are overworked and don't have time to do everything a private attorney would usually want to do. Time-consuming tasks, including some client meetings, often have to be cut back or even skipped entirely.

A PD has the same duties as a private attorney -- to zealously represent her clients interests, to maintain undivided loyalty to the clients, to maintain their confidences, etc. Part of her responsibility is to give the best advice she can, and this advice will often include a strong recommendation against going to trial. Many cases seem almost certain to result in guilty verdicts and harsh sentences, but prosecutors are often willing to offer plea bargains and a defense attorney -- whether a public defender or privately retained -- will often recommend accepting such a deal.

Whether the PD "wants" to take the case to trial isn't particularly important, and if she is recommending a deal instead of trial it is almost certainly because she believes taking the deal is in the client's interest and not because of her own preferences.

Re: public Defender

A question of what is right in any particular setting becomes difficult to answer. Private counsel will always have more time for each client. PD's are often overworked and this issue is best addressed by the cleint with the supervisor regarding caseload issues....regarding the worth of a particular plea offer, the PD has the same duty as does every lawyer, that is to inform the client of the plea offered, the benefits, risk of trial etc...again, each case is unique as to wether or not to recommend acceptance, thus no precise answer can be given....