Legal Question in Criminal Law in Georgia

public-defender rights

an individual gets arrested in ga. and charged with trafficking meth.however, he was only a passenger in car with the dope. the driver, in his own car, in fact was carrying the meth. it was found in his bag, in his car but both were taken in.the driver is yet to take responsibility for the drugs. 2 weeks have gone by and the charges still stand for both.their bond hearing is this week, possibly next but have yet to hear about a public defender. my question is about the passenger- he knows nothing nor has heard anything about his upcoming fate. why hasn't the driver taken responsibility for the drugs, why is he being held with same charges, is he supposed to go before the judge with no representation if he hasn't gotten a lawyer before then due to lack of funds? what rights does he exactely have? i hope this wasn't too vague to answer some or all questions


Asked on 1/09/06, 9:10 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Billy Tomlinson Tomlinson & Associates, LLC

Re: public-defender rights

The passenger is properly charged. This does not mean that he will be convicted but could. There is an equal access rule at play here and a conspiracy. Why would the driver take responsibility? Since when do people do what is right? If he were a moral person, he would not have had the drugs to begin with.

The passenger is entitled to a Public Defender. He needs to make a request at the jail for a PD. THey will provide one. He will then have rep. for his hearing. Good luck.

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Answered on 1/09/06, 10:33 pm


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