Public defender

In the United States, a public defender is a lawyer whose duty is to provide legal counsel and representation to indigent criminal defendants who are unable to pay for legal assistance. Public defenders are employed by the government (at the federal and county level), or they work for non/profit entities funded by the government (see below), as opposed to criminal defense attorneys in private practice.

Related Topics:
United States - Lawyer - Government - Federal - County

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Not all jurisdictions have public defender offices. In certain areas, indigent defendants are represented by private attorneys that are appointed by the court, or by legal aid attorneys whose offices have contracts with the court. In the U.S., some federal, state, and county public defenders are organized into private corporations that receive public funding but are not directly supervised by the executive branch. Some federal, state, and county public defenders, in contrast, are technically part of the executive branch. Still others are considered to be part of the judiciary.

Related Topics:
Legal aid - Executive branch

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Complex conflict of interest problems often arise where multiple defendants participated in a single crime (like a bank robbery or a drive-by shooting). Some defendants may be in a situation where it is in their best interest to turn on their co-defendants and testify for the state as a witness in exchange for a reduced sentence. To ensure that each defendant is afforded his constitutional right to a zealous and loyal defense, a handful of American jurisdictions have created an office of the "alternate public defender" to handle such complex cases.

Related Topics:
Bank robbery - Drive-by shooting

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In civil law countries, following the model from the Napoleonic Code of Criminal Procedure, the courts typically appoint private attorneys at the expense of the state. Defense attorneys are not directly employed by the government, which, as noted above, would perhaps put them into too close a relationship with the interests of the government.

Related Topics:
Civil law - Napoleonic Code

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Issues often arise in jurisdictions with public defenders over appropriate levels of funding. If attorneys are underfunded, case loads can climb to levels where they are unable to provide adequate representation. Further, funding issues can keep salaries too low to attract the best legal talent or to keep experienced lawyers on staff. These issues have come to the fore with recent studies disclosing that innocent people have been condemned to death in part due to inadequate representation in Cook County, Illinois (Chicago). To avoid these problems the American Bar Association has promulgated standards as to appropriate case loads for public defenders. Problems of excessive case loads and low salaries still plague many public defenders' offices. Research has indicated that indigents receive the highest level of representation when assisted by a well funded professional office dedicated to criminal defense. In some jurisdictions, an indigent criminal defendant may be ordered to reimburse the state for the costs of his or her defense, based upon the defendant's ability to do so.

Related Topics:
Cook County - Illinois - Chicago - American Bar Association

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Because of the fact that defendants may not choose which public defender they may have, and because the attorneys must prioritize their often overwhelming case loads, defendants can become dissatisfied with their public defenders. "Dump truck" and "public pretender" are terms sometimes used by defendants when complaining about their public defender (the origins of the phrase "dump truck" are somewhat obscure, however it probably means that in the eyes of the defendant the public defender is simply trying to "dump" him rather than afford him a vigorous defense). For this reason criminal defendants often have a mistrust of their public defender, and client-attorney relations are frequently strained. Because public defenders are offered as a welfare service, many criminal defendants would prefer to have any private counsel rather than a public defender, regardless of comparative competence.

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