r/publicdefenders

My office has westlaw co-counsel, but I haven’t done any training on it and haven’t used it at all. What are the best (if any) uses of it for criminal defense? I feel like I’m basically litigating the same issues over and over, just different facts, so improved caselaw research doesn’t seem that helpful in our field. But I’d love to hear any thoughts on how it could make me better at my job.

For those of you who handle criminal cases and Mental Health Court, I'm curious about your general approach to competency.

If a client has diagnoses such as PTSD, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and major depressive disorder, and is already participating in Mental Health Court on an alleged offense like terroristic threats, what factors would lead you to request a competency evaluation?

Does being accepted into Mental Health Court usually mean competency has already been addressed, or is competency still something you evaluate independently throughout the case?

Also, if a client fully understands the charges, the court process, and the consequences but rejects what many would consider a favorable plea offer because they want to exercise their right to a trial, is that ever a reason to question competency, or is it generally viewed as a strategic decision rather than evidence of incompetence?

I'm asking about general practice and how public defenders typically approach these situations.

I had one recently.

Psychologist: "Are you currently taking any medications?"

Client: "Why? What do you got?"

...

Psychologist: "How many times have you been arrested this year?"

Client: "About 20."

Psychologist: "Wow! That's quite a few times."

Client: "Yeah. The cops are doing a good job."

Do you have any good ones?

Our office took a conflict case for a fellow PD where the courthouse is about an hour away. This means the drive time alone is a 2 hour round trip, not including whatever time we spend in court.

Well, I was able to negotiate a plea for an alternative court program for this client, and I got her set for plea. Well, I did not have time to visit her in the jail ahead of time to do the plea paperwork, and I figured I could just do it in court with her as I had in other situations.

Well, the judge would not allow it because today the court reporter was on a tight schedule, so the case was reset for next Thursday. The problem is that I’m going to have to scramble to get back to this courthouse again on time.

At least I got the paperwork completed with the client today, but I’m getting burnt out. I don’t have any real help in the office, and my boss is so lazy he does not want to do anything.

Has a sovereign client ever tried to file a complaint against you? How'd it go? Did they sign their paperwork with all rights reserved and a bloody fingerprint?

Anybody have a cool office?

Hi all! I'm a rising 3L interested in public defense work (actually, it's all I'm interested in), and it's about that time where I have to actually face the music and get a job. So far I'm looking at both New Mexico and Oregon as potential candidates for where I might ship off to after graduation, but I'd really appreciate the opportunity to talk to an attorney who works in or knows a bit about either, if that's not too much trouble!

Some general questions first for both:

1. How's hiring? I've heard both are pretty desperate for new hires, but I imagine this varies depending on where you are in the state, and this might be outdated info anyways. Large part of why I'm not staying where I am (Western PA) is because there's just nobody hiring around here that wouldn't necessitate me moving anyways, and if I'm going to do that I don't think I'd rather stay in PA (no offense!).

2. What's working there like? How's the court system? I've heard both states have really defense-friendly state constitutions, which I'm thankfully also used to here in PA.

3. Anything I should know about working as a PD in your state/county? Anywhere or anything I should absolutely avoid?

Thank you!

Edit: Want to thank everyone so far for their great insight, you've all been lovely!

My office doesn't totally understand how/why I'd want to use my personal cell phone for work. But I personally love the freedom of text communication (in the native app, not a google voice number).

Over the last 16 years of mostly PD work, the number of late night texts and calls has been surprisingly rare.

Any other wildin' PDs out there?

I have a trans client right now and practice in front of a very conservative judge in Florida. He has a very clear bias against people who don’t speak English, especially for traffic related offenses. I use my client’s preferred name and pronouns and have made notes for my office to do the same. My inclination is to continue to do so in front of my judge but I have concerns about his biases and subjecting my client to that. She is a trans woman but her legal name and gender do not match her identity.

I lean towards it being more important to respect her and her identity than to kowtow to an old man’s bigotry but I am new and want to make sure I am acting in the best interest of my client.

What would you do?

ETA: Thank you for your responses! I will ask her what her preference is given the circumstances!

Has anyone used Auto-Brewery Syndrome (ABS) in a DUI case with any success?

What is the best life hack you learned from a criminal defendant?

Hello! I am studying for the bar and will be starting as a baby lawyer in a large urban, West Coast office.

I never took crim pro or adjudicators crim pro in law school. I sort of stumbled upon this gig after other PI internships. But I have a couple months between the bar and starting work.

Now that I have your attention, I am looking for resources to catch up on the black letter law. Ideally, something other than a textbook would be wonderful to be recommended, such as books, podcast series, or reading lists.

If you have a textbook or supplement you would recommend enthusiastically, that’s ok too!

Hi all! I’m potentially interested in SnoCoPDA. What is the office like? How is the mentorship for newer attorneys? What exactly does “hybrid” mean? How do benefits measure up to King County? Most importantly: do you like the job? What is your most and least favorite part of it? Thank you!! 🙏

I'm in the trenches - we are in trouble!

Good day folks. A question:

How do you balance the trial tax when the client admits some responsibility, but there is an actual issue in dispute?

For example:

Client is charged with taking more then $5000, a felony, but they claim, admit, and want to take responsibility to having taken $1,000, a misdemeanor.

How do you advise clients and balance ethical considerations?

Just want to vent with people who will understand what we go through as PDs.

I have a client with a terrible record. Habitual felon-eligible multiple times over. Mostly all drug-related convictions.

Three years ago, he (allegedly) sells meth to a UC while on probation. At that time, he's homeless, living on the streets, shooting up fentanyl pretty much daily.

He is not charged until two years later. I can't figure out what took so long. My educated guess is LEO was trying to use him to get to a bigger fish, and when that didn't work out, they settled for my guy. Who knows.

In those two years, he decides to get clean. He's been sober for 2.5 years. Got his daughters out of foster care, and now has full custody of them. Got a full time job. Got his driver's license back. Found housing. Volunteers with a substance abuse response team in the community. Is in college taking classes to become a peer support advocate. Is a community advocate for better access to substance abuse help. Spends his weekends volunteering at homeless shelters, builds wheelchair ramps, etc. etc.

As defense attorneys, I know we say all the time "Judge, my client is ready to turn over a new leaf" yada yada, while in reality they're probably going to be sitting back in jail in a month or so. But this might be my only client who has actually done it. I think it's one thing for someone to be be sitting in jail facing charges and decide they want to get clean. We hear that all the time. It's totally different to have nothing hanging over your head, and to make that decision totally voluntarily and actually follow through with it. In my experience, that's rare.

Prosecutor says we can plead straight up, active sentence in the top of the aggravated range, and he won't indict him as habitual. Which maybe doesn't sound too bad considering his record. But in our jurisdiction, that's the first and only offer any habitual-eligible defendant gets. Trial isn't really an option, especially with habitual on the table. The evidence against him is pretty airtight.

So I tell the prosecutor about how my guy has turned his life around. I've got letters from leaders in the community. Clean drug screens. Certificates. His probation officer even tells the prosecutor that my client is the most successful probationer he's ever had, that going to prison would be a major setback for him. We're also concerned about what will happen to his daughters. He has no family. And we want to avoid them going back into foster care at all costs. I ask for probation on the new charges. Or at least a split sentence. To be in a probation sentencing block, the prosecutor just has to drop the felony one level down from selling to possession. Still a felony. A grand total of five months' difference on the sentence.

Prosecutor's response? "I already knew all of that. I don't care. Maybe he should've been thinking about his daughters when he decided to sell drugs to an undercover cop while on probation."

I'm just so sick and tired of the self righteousness and overall lack of humanity in prosecutors as a whole. Obviously what my guy did (allegedly) was wrong. But I think his is also the very rare situation where some grace is warranted. It is HARD to get sober, and even harder to maintain your recovery. He's doing it! Had he not been charged two years after the offense date, we probably would've taken that offer in a heartbeat. He had nothing to lose then. Now he has everything to lose. I know he feels defeated. I do too.

Anyway, if you made it this far through my rambling, thanks for reading. And keep up the good fight.

Of course I am sure its different for every state and office, so take my question with the grain of salt it has to have.

But I was looking at a few of the state-wide systems after going down a few rabbit holes and saw at least a few states where their PD system is statewide and separated into regional offices that handle, outside of their metro's, an amalgamation of counties. (Colorado comes to mind as an example. I can't image working in the Montrose office and then seeing a blizzard and knowing you have court the next day across the mountain.)

This is more curiosity than anything else, but how does that work logistically for you? Like I am sure you bundle and block as many of your cases in one county to happen on the same set of days every week. But, again this is rank speculation, that can only do so much right? How are you not wasting your day traveling between spread apart counties? How do you make it work?

Hi everyone,
I’m 15 and interested in becoming a lawyer someday.
I know I don’t have to decide between prosecution and defense for many years, and I know most people don’t make that choice until law school or after gaining practical experience. I’m just trying to learn more about both paths now so that I can better understand where I might fit.
For those of you who became criminal defense attorneys or public defenders, what made you realize defense work was the right path for you?
Was it the belief that everyone deserves a strong defense, the challenge of questioning evidence, protecting constitutional rights, the courtroom advocacy, or something else?
Looking back, were there any early signs that pointed you toward defense work?
If you ever considered becoming a prosecutor, what made you decide that defense was a better fit for you?
I’d really appreciate hearing your stories and perspectives.
Thank you.

I've been at this for 6 years. Tomorrow is my last day as a PD. I took a job with a private firm that does criminal defense and family law. It's a really good opportunity and a significant raise.

But I'm still really emotional. I loved my time at my office, and I'm sad that it's coming to an end.