Legal Question in Criminal Law in Wisconsin

Probable Cause Definition, Public Defender Appointment

Probable cause means reason to believe that an offense has been committed and that the defendant has probably committed it. It is a far lower standard that that required for conviction, where the case must be proven beyond any reasonable doubt. Probable cause does not require much--for example, one recent WI Court of Appeals decision found that a rear license plate illumination light being out was sufficient for an officer to stop a vehicle. The stop resulted in a drunken driving arrest, which resulted in a conviction which was upheld on appeal. Public defenders are only appointed to represent the poorest of the poor. Even social security disability income is too much income for a person to qualify, as is ownership of any significant assets--sometimes even a vehicle. Therefore, public defenders are not ever appointed in most cases--defendants either hire their own attorneys or appear without an attorney. Appearing without an attorney on a criminal or traffic matter is almost never a good idea, due to future impact convictions may have upon a person's employability and driving privileges. All convictions in WI are publically reported to the entire world on the internet, so any potential employer has easy, quick access to any potential employee's entire history in the court system. The U.S. constitution only requires counsel to be appointed in gravely serious (felony) charges, not in civil, traffic or misdemeanor matters. There is no time limit that I know of for appointing an attorney when a person is eligible for one at government expense. However, there are deadlines for trials, preliminary hearings and other proceedings if the deadlines are not waived. Many such proceedings do not occur in a timely fashion until attorneys are appointed. Hence, long delays in the appointment process can sometimes be grounds for either dismissal of charges or release of defendants from jail pending trial if they cannot afford to post bond.