Proper Representation

My daughter was arrested for a White Collar Crime in the State of Alabama. She was appointed a lawyer and upon the first meeting with him, he told her she would probably be found guilty and would have to appeal. He has not gathered any evidence in the case and has not met with her again. Does she have the right to request a new court appointed lawyer, as this one is not doing anything to help her?

You can ask for another one, but that doesn't mean that the next one would do any more. As a former court clerk, I had the opportunity to see public defenders in action. Very rarely did I see any of them do more than negotiate a plea bargain. Now, as a victim advocate, I've had the opportunity to see even more of it.

While at the City of Phoenix Municipal Court with my clients, I've watched one public defender after another instruct client after client, "You have three choices: all of them, plead guilty." It was a while before I finally got one of them to admit to me that they're actually told to do this. Why?

Simple. Here in Arizona, fines taken in are divided among a variety of funds. Some of these funds are required to be established. If these funds are not funded from fine moneys, then the they are funded from the court's budget. The court has insufficient budget as it is, and cannot affort to do this, so it's in their best interest to collect as many fines as possible. With almost every plea agreement, there is a fine imposed as part of sentencing.

In other words, it's basically all just a money making venture, and the poor guy who gets tagged for something -- actual guilt/innocence is not being an issue -- ends up paying for it.

It's true what they say: you get what you pay for.

Welcome to the American judicial system...

You have the right to request a new attorney. You will have to show cause before the court why a new one should be appointed (for example, that your current attorney has made no preparation for defense).

If what you say is true, you may also wish to report the attorney to the State Bar Association (or relevant disciplinary body) for malpractice and misconduct. Your attorney is obligated to diligently represent your interests, even if he is court-appointed.

However, before taking such extreme measures, I recommend you sit down and discuss the case with the attorney (if you have not already). Express your concerns to him, and see if there is anything he has already done/will be doing to prepare the defense. Depending on the case, he may be giving you a fair assessment for prevailing.

If however, you truly believe that your attorney is not competently handling your case, you should do the following:

Create a log of all the times your attorney fails to do his duty. That is, if your attorney fails to return calls, keep you abreast of current actions in the proceeding, etc. This will be useful both in your request a new attorney, and should you feel it necessary to bring disciplinary actions.

Also, contact a local legal aid foundation (if there is one), and see if there is any who can refer a pro bono attorney.