OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC DEFENDER
FIRST JUDICIAL CIRCUIT

What to do if you are arrested...

First and foremost, you must not talk about your case with anyone. This includes family and friends as well as anyone in law enforcement or any persons in the jail. Regardless of how much they insist they want to help, all of these people can and will be witnesses against you. Only speak to your attorney and the staff in our office.

The Office of the Public Defender is a State supported staff of attorneys, investigators, witness interviewers, and secretaries who are provided for the defense of persons charged with felonies, misdemeanors, or as otherwise appointed by the Court. All of the Defendants are "insolvent"; this means that even by loans of sale of property, the Defendant cannot raise the funds required by local private attorneys to handle the case.

A Defendant represented by the Public Defender is actually represented by a staff of attorneys, investigators, and witness interviewers all working together. While a specific attorney will be assigned to represent you, the same attorney may not appear with you at every stage of the proceedings. However, at every essential stage of the proceedings your assigned attorney will be present.

All Assistant Public Defenders unless otherwise explained to you are members of the Florida Bar. They are all "real attorneys" and all have received special training in the handling of criminal cases.

The services of the Public Defender are not necessarily free. Prior to arraignment you will be charged a $40.00 application fee, and at the end of the case you may be charged costs by the Judge. All of this will be explained by your attorney, and no one will be denied legal assistance if they cannot afford to pay these costs.

Each criminal case consists of numerous steps and the following outline is intended to describe some of them.

FIRST APPEARANCE
Every Defendant is entitled to a "first appearance" hearing in Court usually within twenty-four hours of the time of his arrest. At this hearing, the Judge has three matters for his consideration. First, he is concerned with the matter of probable cause. Under the Florida rules, the Judge must consider a sworn affidavit made by the arresting officer to determine if there is sufficient probable cause to hold the Defendant for further proceeding. This probable cause finding is what is called a non-adversary hearing, meaning that legal rules of evidence do not apply and the attorneys for each side do not argue the matter. The Judge simply considers the affidavit presented to him.

After this is considered, the Judge will usually inquire to see if the Defendant has an attorney or whether he can afford one. If a Defendant is charged with a felony, the Court rarely allows the Defendant to proceed without an attorney. If the Defendant is considered to be insolvent, then the Public Defender's Office will be appointed.

Third, the Court will consider the Defendant's bond, and he will hear either the Defendant's attorney or the Defendant if there are any matters concerning bond to come to the Court's attention. Once bond is determined, the Court will then pass the case for a period of time to give the State Attorney a chance to investigate the charges and decide whether he will file formal charges in the form of what is called an Information or take the case to the Grand Jury.

INTAKES
If you are in custody, it is likely that you will be contacted by one of our witness interviewers for the purpose of what we call an Intake. He will ask you a number of questions, including details of why you were charged with a crime. While this witness interviewer is not an attorney, any information you give is confidential and will not be repeated to anyone outside the Public Defender's Office without your permission. You should cooperate fully with the witness interviewer and answer all questions truthfully.

If you make bond and have not been contacted for an intake, you must come down to the Public Defender's Office as soon as possible so that the intake may be done. If you have any questions, call the Public Defender's Office in the County where you were arrested and the operator will advise you.

APPOINTMENTS
If you are not in custody, and you have already completed your intake, you should call the Public Defender's Office and make an appointment to see your attorney. Because of our schedule, it is often impossible to interview a client that walks in off the street. You do not need to speak to your attorney personally to make the appointment. Simply ask for your attorney's secretary.

ARRAIGNMENT
An arraignment is an appearance where the Defendant is given a copy of the formal charges. At this point, the Defendant's case is usually set for what is known as a Docket Day, usually a month to six weeks after the arraignment. If you are in jail, you attorney will appear for you and enter a plea of not guilty. The case will then be set for trial.

INVESTIGATION
After the arraignment, the case is usually investigated by the attorney handling the case and by the investigators in our office. First we undertake certain legal steps to learn more about a case. Generally, we will file what is known as a Notice of Discovery. The purpose of this notice is to compel the State to disclose to us a number of important facts involving the case. This includes a list of witnesses that the State intends to call, police reports, statements of witnesses, reports of experts, the statement of the Defendant, and numerous other items. Only when we have this information can we determine just what evidence the state has against the Defendant, and prepare to meet the charge in earnest.

Once we receive the discovery information, however, we will usually take what are known as discovery depositions, in felony cases. The witnesses for the State will be subpoenaed to the Courthouse and we will take their statements under oath. We have the opportunity at that time to question them about all matters that we feel are possibly relevant to the pending case.

At the same time, we will begin to locate and contact the witnesses, including those whose names and addresses you have given us. If you have not given us the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of any witnesses, send us a letter as soon as you can with this information. Witnesses need not be eye-witnesses to any alleged acts or happenings, but they may be persons who could testify to any circumstances which may tend to show absence of guilt, or which may tend to show that the crime actually committed was not as serious as the Prosecutor alleges. If you do not have accurate names, addresses, and telephone numbers you may have family or friends who are familiar enough with these people to get the information for you. You should make every effort to contact these people and ask them to contact your attorney as soon as they can since family and friends can often be more helpful in obtaining this information than our investigators.

In addition to the regular investigation done on a case, it is our policy to discuss the case with the Prosecutor who is handling it. The State Attorney may be willing to "plea bargain", that is, agree to a particular sentence in return for a plea of guilty, or the State may decide to drop some of the charges against the Defendant if the evidence is weak, and they don't believe they can prove their case. In addition, the trial judge will often indicate that he will find the Defendant guilty of a lesser offense than the one charged if the Defendant enters a guilty plea. We will often investigate the possibility of a plea regardless of whether of not the Defendant has expressed interest in a plea.

At some time before the plea day, the attorney and Defendant will have a thorough discussion involving the facts and strategy of the case. The attorney may talk to the Defendant before the discovery deposition if he feels there is certain information he needs before talking to the witnesses; however, this depends on the individual case. It is important that you be honest with your attorney and tell him the complete truth about your case. Often facts that a defendant feels hurts his chances actually can be helpful to the defense. Remember all communications between a lawyer and client are private. At the conference, we will place all the facts in front of you and explain what defenses are available, including what the chances of success are. We will also explain to you possible sentences that might be received if a plea of guilty is entered or if you are found guilty at trial. The decision to plead guilty is strictly up to you, but we will give advice if requested. A Defendant in a criminal case has an absolute right to a trial by jury, and no attorney in this office would ever intentionally deny that right to a Defendant.

DOCKET DAY
The purpose of the docket day is to advise the Court whether the Defendant wishes to go to trial. By the docket day, the attorney handling the case will be thoroughly familiar with the facts of the case and able to make tactical decisions involving the case. Discussions with the State Attorney and investigation of the case will usually take place before the docket day. If the Defendant wishes to plead guilty, or if there has been a negotiation involving the plea with the Court, or if the State Attorney has indicated they will drop some of the charges due to lack of evidence, the pleas will be offered at the docket day. Otherwise, the case will be set for trial. We will usually ask for a trial by jury, however, occasionally we feel that it would be to the Defendant's advantage to ask for a trial before the Judge and give up the right to a jury trial. Your attorney will advise you, but the decision whether or not to have a trial and whether it is a jury or Judge trial, is up to you.

MISDEMEANOR CHARGES
If you are charged with a misdemeanor, your case will not be set for a docket day as is the custom in felony court. Instead when you appear in court to be given a copy of the formal charges, your case will probably be set for trial and you will enter a plea of not guilty. Between this arraignment and the trial date, our office will do all the investigation and preparation that is mentioned above. Your attorney will then meet with you prior to the trial date and discuss strategy at trial or the possibility of a plea.

TRIALS
A Jury Trial is a trial in which six or more citizens, called from the community, hear evidence presented by the Prosecutor and Defense lawyer, and then determine (1) the facts of what happened and (2) guilt or innocence. A Judge Trial is a trial where the Judge decides guilt or innocence instead of a jury.

If your case goes to trial, you will be fully advised as to what to expect by the attorney handling your case.

JAIL VISITS
Regular visits are made to the jail by members of the Public Defender's staff. Because of limited staff and the great number of cases, it is impossible to see a Defendant unless there is an important purpose to be accomplished by personal interview. Request for jail visits should be made only when it is urgently important that the lawyer and client have a personal interview. Written questions of the attorney will be responded to as quickly as possible.

Visitation of a Defendant in confinement by friends and relatives is solely within the discretion of the Jailer. Questions about food, clothing, and medicine should be directed to the Jailer. If no satisfaction can be obtained from the Jailer, then you should communicate with the County Corrections Office if you're being held in Escambia County or with the Judge.

CORRESPONDENCE
Although correspondence between attorney and client must not be censored, it is wise to put on the envelope:

CONFIDENTIAL
Attorney-Client Communications
DO NOT CENSOR

Be sure to put your full name and where you are being held on the letter as well as the envelope. Also include on your letter the date that you are writing the letter. The Public Defender's Office has a mailbox at the jail, so you do not need a stamp for the letter. Simply give the letter to one of the Jailers with instructions to put it in the Public Defender's box.

PUBLIC DEFENDER LIEN
If the Defendant is found guilty at a Judge or Jury Trial, or if a Defendant pleads Guilty or Nolo Contendere, the Court can impose what is called a "Public Defender Lien". The purpose of the lien is to recover money to pay the County for office space, utilities, and janitorial services provided for Public Defender personnel. The Court may impose a Public Defender Lien in an amount up to the value of the services provided by the Public Defender Office and in an amount to cover expenses such as telephone calls, witness fees, court reporter fees, and cost of transcripts required in preparing the case. If unpaid, the Public Defender Lien will be filed with the the Clerk of Court. A "lien" is a charge or encumbrance against assets or property owned or acquired by the Defendant.