Legal Question in Appeals and Writs in Florida

Hi, my question goes as follows...I was in the E.R. of a hospital and I had told my public defender that I was going in the day before. He told me to call him and tell him the information of the hospital I was in and he reassured me I would be fine. I went and I had a fractured foot and another fracture on my nose. They medicated me and told me to rest. I called the next day and the public defenders secretaries gave me the run around and finally told me that I was supposed to go in the next day or I was getting a bench warrant! But they said the bench warrant supposedly that hadnt gone thru yet. Are they allowed to do that even though I was told I was able to be excused? And someone told me that I was able to fire the public defender and get 2 new ones and then they would pay for a real attorney up to $1500 after I fire the last one... Is this true?


Asked on 4/22/10, 7:19 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Joseph Vredevelt Best Vredevelt & Associates

If you have a medical need and cannot attend court you must give the court a note from the doctors office as to why you were unable to attend court. If you did this there is no reason your public defender couldn't properly inform the the court of this and reset your case without them issuing a bech warrant.

As for firing your public defender, this can only happen in two ways...first, the public defender is drastically failing to handle your case properly and placing you in a position where you will not get a proper trial. This is called a Richardson Hearing and you would need to file the motion yourself and have the judge make a determination. Without proof of extraordinary wrongs, this is a difficult motion to win because the judge is in effect putting on the record that the attorney is ineffective and a moron, so they tend not to do this too often. If you win you will be given another public defender from the exact same office. The second way that the public defender removed would require showing a conflict between yourself and the co-defendant that is also represented by the public defender's office; this will result in the Regional Counsel's Office issuing one of its attorneys. If you do not have a co-defendant you will not be given Regional Counsel.

The only way to get a private attorney assigned to your case is to have at least two other co-defendants that have conflicts with the public defender's office.

If you don't think you can afford a private attorney I would like to inform you of the Johnnie Cochran Firm's H.O.P.E. project. H.O.P.E. stands for Helping Out People Equally. It is designed for those individuals who cannot afford private counsel but we feel should not suffer bad representation. We will evaluate your case and you could have the Cochran Firm represent you for a very reasonable rate. Please give us a call and take advantage of our free consultation and we can see what we can do for you. 305.670.3119 and ask for Joseph.

All My Best,

Joseph Vredevelt

The Cochran Firm - South Florida

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Answered on 5/02/10, 6:02 am


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