does the court actually charge for court-appointed lawyers?

  • Thread starter Thread starter hardrockscout
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hardrockscout

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my fiance is going to court tomorrow and got a call from an attorney today telling her that the court would charge her like $700 for the court-appointed attorney, which makes no sense if they are giving her the lawyer because she can't afford one on her own, I'm suspicious of this guy, but then again, I'm only 19 and about 900 miles away from her, so i may not know......
my fiance is under a misdemeanor offense under the state of michigan, and her parents(neither have a job) think that i should pay the fees, since i have a job.....even though my job only brings in 1650 a month and i have my own obligations, like actually taking car of her if she can move down here with me. anyone know what possibility that would be? i bought plane tickets for the 24th, her arrainement is tomorrow
 
No. That's the point. The fact that someone can't afford a lawyer shouldn't be enough reason for a defendant not to have one, The tax payers pay for it. Personally, as a tax payer, I have absolutely no problem with that.
 
Being court appointed doesn't mean free. You're thinking of a Public Defender. Court appointed just means that 1) the court is obligated under the U.S. Constitution's 6th Amendment to provide her with legal counsel if she can't afford one and 2) the court system she is in is probably very small (too small to afford a Public Defenders system). As far as being poor or indigent, if found guilty, it won't stop the court from fining her and assessing her court costs and/or restitutions. However, with a "PD" system, if found not guilty, she stands the best chance of not paying a dime. If guilty, the court costs and fines she gets would have in part, paid for her attorney in a "PD' system.

Also, if the court didn't provide her with an attorney, she couldn't hope to find an attorney on her own without a retainer (down payment).

The court must also provide one at a reasonable cost. $700 sounds high. I would think $300 would be more acceptable but I'm not a frequent flyer of the court system.

However, being court appointed doesn't mean she's "stuck" with her attorney. She can request a different one if she believes her attorney is not acting in good faith or is acting against her wishes.

Also, any attorney is OBLIGATED to work faithfully on behalf of [his] client. Not doing so can cause [him] to be disbarred (lose [his] license to practice law). Beware of attorneys that start off by trying to get you to plead guilty without fully understanding your case. However, if guilty, you should trust your attorney to do everything [he] can to plead you down to a lower and less "legally-damaging" charge.

One final thought. If the court feels she should have an attorney, the charges against her must be serious. Most likely criminal charges.
 
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