Are Public Defenders Great Lawyers for your criminal case in Douglas, Denver, Adams, Arapahoe, and Jefferson County? After twenty years of work with them, I am convinced they are great lawyers for any felony or misdemeanor case. Yet, they get a bad reputation because they are so busy.
A typical Public Defender Lawyer in Colorado handling serious felony cases like Sexual Assault on a Child, Enticement, or Luring cases will handle close to eighty cases at a time. A misdemeanor Public Defender lawyer can carry a caseload of over a hundred at a time. With this heavy caseload, no lawyer can do their best work for you. They are forced to choose which cases to pour themselves into.
Public Defenders are forced to triage cases. This means they work hard to plea bargain as many as possible, so they have time to invest in cases where mandatory prison or heavy jail sentences are the norm. Triage of cases does not mean the Public Defender does not care about you. They care a ton – they simply cannot devote the time which a private criminal lawyer like those in our office can. A Public Defender only has 24 hours in a day and they still want to sleep and have a life. So, even if working 12 hour days, there is no way they can invest themselves in every case.
Your experienced criminal attorney should invest themselves in your case. Like us, they should worry about the next step in your case, be concerned about contacting witnesses, and treat you like family. This lawyer should get angry with the abuses of police and the refusal of courts to care whether you keep your job or maintain contact with your children. Criminal restraining orders have unintended consequences like getting you fired or keeping you from your children. We have experience informing and persuading the court, District Attorneys, and probation, of these unintended consequences. You need an advocate to save what is important to you, and a Public Defender simply does not have the time to invest in all these matters.
In the Denver metro area and throughout Colorado, we will meet with witnesses or hire an investigator to go meet witnesses. We will travel to the scene of a crime and get the feel of what happened. We will meet with you and review your discovery / police reports to prepare a defense. As your lawyers, we care about what happens to you and we invest the time to prove it.
When the police contact you, make an immediate decision to exercise your Fifth Amendment Right to silence, and call us at 303-731-0719. Together, we can protect your future.