Q: Should I get a lawyer for my brother or will my brother be "okay" with a public defender?
My brother lives in California and is being accused of child molestation.
He went to jail and got out due to lack of evidence. There were some other people who came forward and said my brother did weird things to them. However, there is no evidence.
I believe my brother is innocent.
Also, when this whole situation first started, the parents of the child were not pressing charges until their kids got taken away by CPS. CPS is now saying that the parents can not have their children back unless they press charges against my brother. Thus, the current situation.
Please tell me, is the CPS allowed to do this, or do you think the parents are using that as an excuse to press charges? I ask, because, the accuser's family are my relatives.
My dad wants to let my brother go to court with a public defender. Do you think this is "okay" or do you think we should get him his own lawyer? This is my main question.
Thanks for reading, and I am waiting for your response.
A: I have limited experience with CPS so I won't respond that part of your question. Regarding the public defender thing, it depends on how busy the public defenders are in your county. Most public defenders I've met are very nice people, but they simply have too many cases to deal with. Since your brother's charges are serious and carry sex offender registration consequences, you want to make sure whoever defends him has taken the time and done the work to put on the best defense possible. If you can in anyway afford it, I would recommend hiring a private lawyer just because you want someone who has the time and energy to devote to the case.
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