Q: No criminal record then arrested for 2 armed robberies and 2 aggravated assaults. Do I need a lawyer are a public defend
A:
First, public defenders are lawyers, the same as private counsel. That being said, unfortunately many public defender officers are under-funded and overwhelmed with work. Your public defender will give your case the minimum amount of attention the law requires, but more than that? That depends on the individual public defender and their workload. Some can give your case extra attention, but many will must divide their time across their cases, which may be limited and not as much as you may want. You also don't have the privilege of choosing which the public defender will represent you; the court will make that decision. And if you don't like the attorney you were assigned, you just can't ask for a new one. Private attorneys are not free, but you can choose who represents you and they generally have more time and resources at their disposal.
These charges are very serious, and a conviction(s) would almost certainly result in prison time. If you and your family can afford an attorney, you can avoid that roll of the dice where the court chooses your lawyer for you and then that they have the amount of time you want for them to devote to your defense.
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