Saving Money on Attorney’s Fees May End Up Costing More Than You Think!
The criminal defense attorneys at America’s Criminal Defense Group have been preaching the importance of hiring quality criminal defense attorneys for years.Β This thought has been confirmed, evidenced by the recently published New York Times article regarding the overworked public defender offices throughout the country. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/us/09defender.html).
According to the article, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/us/09defender.html, public defenders and legal aid attorneys are turning down cases usually assigned to their offices due to the already heavy workload.Β “βRight now a lot of public defenders are starting to stand up and say, βNo more: We canβt ethically handle this many cases,βΒ β said David J. Carroll, director of research for the National Legal Aid and Defender Association.
The worst part of all this, are those clients who find themselves in the unenviable situation that requires them to either take a plea bargain that may not have been well thought out by their attorney, or face the possibility of going to trial on a case that should have been plead.Β One public defender in Florida cited a case in which his client was offered 5-years for a grand theft charge – because that was the best offer the prosecutor’s office would extend.Β Fortunate for the defendant though, the prosecutor looked again at their calculations, and instead determined that 1-year was the correct sentence. That’s 4-years that man would have lost because of a mistake!
