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Reasons to ask for new Public Defender

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FlaBrian

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida

I have a Criminal case pending in Florida

I'm charged with Grand Theft

I have been appointed a public defender.

1) They said 99% of cases result in a plea agreement and advised
me to take a plea if offered as it's not worth the risk on a felony
to lose and end up in jail.

2) They said innocent people often go to prison because they did not
accept the plea deal of no jail time because the Judge throws the
book at you for wasting their time.

The Public Defender seems to just want to move cases along. She did depositions
of the city people showing that they paid me $50,000 and says I should give them
the equipment or go to prison. She said all they have to prove is I was paid (cashed check)
and work was not done on time (90 days).

She said it don’t matter that they delivered the vehicles 5 months later, That they
still leaked water, but they can show the work was never completed.

I get the feeling this attorney works with shoplifters, drug addicts and like all day
Long and is lost at the complexity of this case.

What are grounds for dismissing a Public Defender in Florida? I already paid
a private attorney $10,000.00 that said I had a winning case but he passed away
a few months ago and I can’t afford to pay another.

You can comment on the below information also, but my main question is what are the
grounds of getting a different Public Defender?




I ran a business that installed equipment in the city's vehicles. I have
been doing business for years with the same city and others.

The Contract/Bid was for the following:

1) Provide equipment with no installation
2) Install Equipment only
3) Provide and install equipment

I selected option # 3 to provide and install equipment.

The Contract was to complete job within 90 days.

We had the equipment and was ready to install and it was
scheduled for installation. However the trucks supplied by the
city were wrecked prior to delivery to us and they were 5 months
late in delivering them as they were being repaired.

The damage to the trucks made it impossible to warranty our work
as water got into the trucks after the repairs. We are booked for work
one year in advance on most jobs and their delay caused us to reschedule
them once we got the vehicles, (5) months later.

The City said they now only want the equipment.

I don't just sell equipment we sell and install only as I bid.

My bid was $50,000 equipment and $50,000 install total $100,000
and the items were not available separately.

They paid $50,000 up front to cover the cost of equipment.

They want a 100% refund.. I offered 80% less the 20%
restocking fee and our labor and material costs. They refused.
They demanded the equipment since they paid $50,000

I outfitted the vehicles with hardware and wiring and then noticed the water
leaks. They never fixed the leaks and we removed our hardware and they
picked up the vehicles.

Long story short. They arrested me for not giving them the equipment.

I say this is a contract dispute, they say it’s grand theft and I intended to
take their money and keep it. After years of business why would I do
so? I never had done anything but give them good deals in the past.

When I bid, all I cared about was the total $ for the contract of $100,000
and it did not matter to me it actually cost $80,000 for the gear and the
installation was $20,000.00 as we checked the box that said we would only
do both and not as separate items.

Now they want the Equipment only at $50,000.00 which is $30,000.00 less
than it value.

What makes this interesting, the city sent out a city police officer to the office
several times demanding the equipment or he would arrest me. (I was not there)

He also came back and demanded the $50,000.00 and wanted my sec to write
the city a check.

When it rains it pours.. I’m known in the area for being more than fair in my prices
and exceptional in my work. While others warranty their work 1 year I warranty all
work 5 years no questions asked.

My family says not to give in and go to trial. I believe the same. For years I have done
work for them and at a fair price and even have worked for nothing when they had no
budget for something or wanted emergency service and I only
charged them the regular rate.

Sad thing is, I have never shoplifted or done anything illegal in my life and have given
more of my money I make to others than I kept for myself.
I raised (4) wonderful children that know right from wrong and I’m blessed they are doing well but I refuse
to accept anything from them as they need what they have for their families.

I feel like I would be better off defending myself as I believe in myself and know
I did not intend to rip the city off. However it seems with a Public Defender you only get what
you pay for and since I’m not paying anything, that’s what I get.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
 


Mass_Shyster

Senior Member
I already paid
a private attorney $10,000.00 that said I had a winning case but he passed away
a few months ago and I can’t afford to pay another.
Was the $10K a retainer, or did he do $10K worth of work? If it was a retainer, you should get a refund from the estate or LLC or whomever you gave the payment to..
 

outonbail

Senior Member
Do you have a signed contract with the city for the completion of this work?

Much of what you are claiming happened should be covered in the contract.
If the city could not fulfill their contractual obligations, it should provide you some wiggle room.

It sounds like the city decided to break the contract and just asked for the materials, which according to your quote was 50K. Whether the city was within their right to break the contract, we have no way of knowing. These situations are something which should be covered in the contract.

However, when you claim the bid was for 50K materials and 50K labor, then state your cost for materials is 80K, it sounds like you pull some of the figures you rely on in your bid, out of the air.

It certainly sounds like this is a civil matter and not criminal, but I don't know all the details of who or why the contract is being broken and if it is something the city has a right to do.


It sounds like the scheduling problems caused the completion time you agreed to in the contract, to become impossible to fulfill. This may be the cities fault, but again, I have no way of knowing.
However, it sounds like at some point, the city tried re-negotiating the terms of the contract which could not be met. If so, it doesn't sound unreasonable for the city to then just ask for the materials they paid for up front.

It also sounds like you might have gone along with their request for just providing the materials, if it weren't for the fact that you underestimated your cost for the materials and this is not the cities fault.

After being unsuccessful in coming to an agreement with you, you say the city decided that rather than fight you in civil court, they would make the case a criminal one, is this correct?
If so, this is really no more than a way of extorting the money from you. This would of course be unethical and illegal on their part.

Years back, I experienced something similar in the city my business was operated in, although there was a third party involved in my case as well.
I did prevail but it took over a year for the case to get before a judge and boy, was he pi$$ed when it finally did. I also prevailed in civil court using the criminal case file as part of my evidence in the civil case.

Your case is a complex one and one which the public defender may not be very motivated to work hard on. Too bad, push them to work hard on it.

An innocent person should not have to plead guilty because of threats made by the city who they are in a contractual dispute with. Especially when the city tries to win the dispute by threatening you with a criminal conviction!

Unfortunately, you have much more going on here than you can expect to get answers for over an Interned legal forum.

Personally, I would tell the public defender this case evolved due to a civil matter between you and the city and that you will not be pleading guilty to any criminal charges and you will not be taking any deal, as this can also have a negative impact on a civil case should the city decide to subsequently pursue that avenue, which is how this situation should have been resolved from the onset.

In the future, have an attorney review all your contracts so you don't end up in this situation again.
 

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