TUCSON CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY UNABLE TO AFFORD AN ATTORNEY, BUT STILL WANT TO CHOOSE YOUR OWN LAWYER? In Arizona, criminal defendants who have appointed counsel (e.g. Public Defender, Appointments Panel, etc.) may have the option of hiring an attorney of their choice to work with their appointed attorney. This process applies to individuals who are indigent and are unable to afford to hire an attorney of their choice to handle the entire case, but can still hire an attorney to do a portion of the work on their case. The concept of Knapp Counsel is based on an Arizona Supreme Court case that is Knapp v. Hardy in which the Court held that ‘a Defendant has the right to have a Private Attorney associate with the Public Defender’s Office in defense of their case. What this means is that a private criminal defense lawyer may assist an appointed attorney, in the form of joint representation, for the betterment of a Defendant’s case. Simply having two attorneys working on a case instead of one will generally be advantageous, but there may also be more specific reasons a defendant may wish to bring on a private attorney to join in their defense. The most obvious benefit of having a private defense attorney represent you as Knapp counsel, is that this means you will be able to get an attorney of your choice on your side for a fraction of the cost. People in serious situations have two legal minds cooperating for their benefit, along with the advantages of having government resources available to aid in their defense. Every lawyer, just like every person, will have their strengths and weaknesses. When two lawyers with different strengths work together, the results can be great. This type of association is not well known by the public, but those who discover its advantages can definitely reap the benefits. In more ways than one, this costs less than having the private lawyer replace the public defender as attorney of record. Not only will the private attorney be doing less work on the case, and thereby not charging for the work done by the appointed attorney, but indigent defendants who hire Knapp counsel still receive the benefit of the state paying for some of the ancillary costs of litigation. Investigators, expert witnesses, transcription services, etc. can become quite costly, and are all costs which indigent defendants are entitled to have covered by the court. When a defendant has private counsel, they may still seek the appointment of an investigator or expert at county expense, but it will be less likely to be granted, potentially denying a defendant the ability to prepare the best defense. It should be noted that most appointed attorneys, particularly those who work for a public defender agency, have undergone extensive training in criminal law, and will typically have a great amount of experience in criminal law. Under no circumstances should a criminal defendant assume that retained counsel is necessarily better equipped to defend the case. According to the judgment of the Supreme Court, court opined that “Counsel should be provided to any person who is financially unable to obtain adequate representation without substantial hardship to himself or his family. Counsel should not be denied to any person merely because his friends or relatives have resources adequate to retain counsel or because he has posted or is capable of posting bond.” “A defendant may have more than one attorney, and the public defender's office may assign one or more attorneys to represent a particular defendant depending upon the seriousness of the case and the competency and experience of the attorneys assigned. We have been unable to find anything which prevents the association of private counsel with the public defender's office in the defense of an indigent. It is, of course, not improper for a relative of the defendant to hire people to help and assist, and the fact that the indigent defendant already has the aid of the public defender's office does not limit the help a defendant may receive. We feel that it is preferable to have counsel thus assisting to be associated and made a counsel of record with reciprocal rights and duties under our Rules of Criminal Procedure and subject to the direction of the court as to the particular case in which he is involved.” If you or a loved one is in need a criminal defense attorney, and has already been appointed counsel, you might consider exploring this additional option for a team defense. Contact the Tucson Defenders today for a FREE CONSULTATION. 520-585-5757.
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November 2024
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