My daughter has been ordered by a judge to hire a lawyer. She doesn't have the money and she wants to plead quilty and be sentenced. He said if she shows up with out a lawyer he will put in jail and increase her bail
The judge is a moron. His problem is that if she's unrepresented and pleads guilty, she may later claim not to have understood her constitutional rights. Even so he cannot jail her or increase her bail if she truly cannot afford a lawyer. Why can't she use the PD just to enter her plea? It's free in most states.
Perhaps your daughter isn't eligible for public defender representation. Often, if a client asks the judge, the county or the locality will appoint counsel and allow the defendant to repay at a reasonable rate.
Your daughter has a right to counsel for her criminal case whether she can afford counsel or not. If she cannot afford an attorney, she has a right to have counsel appointed by the court.
Generally, in most states, application must be made for appointed counsel with documentation that the defendant truly cannot pay a defense attorney. A defendant should never have a public defender appointed because it will be inconvenient to pay a lawyer or hurt her financially. Only those who CANNOT afford an attorney should have counsel appointed on their behalf.
Your daughter has a right to refuse counsel and represent herself. However, there is an old addage, "A person who represents himself in a criminal case has a fool for a client."
The Judge is probably not going to assist your daughter. She should be proactive and call the local public defender's office if she cannot afford counsel. Otherwise - she will need to hire an attorney. If all else fails - she will need to ask the Judge for help. BUT - if she documents attempts to get counsel, say, by calling the clerk of court, the public defender's office and local attorneys + writing down the names of the people she talked to and when she talked to them; It would be very difficult for a Judge to punish her and keep a good conscience.
