But what if I cannot afford to hire a private attorney? Then should I represent myself (“pro se”) or get a public defender so I won’t have to pay a private attorney?
No, no and no. I cannot overemphasize how unwise it is for someone charged with DUI or any other criminal offense to either represent themselves or use a public defender. You simply will not in most instances get a state-of-the-art defense. I offer payment plans to those with jobs and good credit. Call me and we can see if we can work out some form of payment arrangement, although there is a realistic ‘down payment’ required with my payment plans. You will be up against a prosecutor who may not be any smarter than you, but knows the judges, the rules of evidence and procedure, has unlike you a lot of knowledge about getting easy DUI convictions from those unrepresented or who have a public defender, and will take advantage of your inexperience and lack of knowledge as to how to properly defend yourself and attack the government’s case. If you value your freedom and your criminal record, call a private attorney instead. Get one who is experienced and will care about you. I am one of those attorneys. Public defenders are often not much better often, not because they are bad lawyers – they are not bad lawyers in many cases, but because their caseloads are so impossibly huge they generally don’t have the time to put into your case to aggressively, thoroughly and optimally defend you.