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Defending yourself in a criminal trial without the aid of a felony attorney can be a big mistake. In fact, there are few upsides to making this choice. For those defendants who cannot pay for an expensive lawyer, most states are able to provide a public defender to take the role of counsel. However, some states have no such provision for a statewide system, which means meeting the constitutional standard can be more challenging. No matter the situation, you should never content yourself with the thought of representing yourself. Even the most overworked, underpaid public defender is miles better than self representation. Here are some options.

Looking for a Public Defender

In most states, the judge will appoint a public defender to a defendant who does not have the funds to hire a private felony attorney. This may come as a surprise, but this is the situation most defendants find themselves in. As perhaps a commentary on society, most people brought up on criminal charges are not rich by a long shot. And hiring a private lawyer can be very expensive. These lawyers are not willing to take the case now and bill later, due to the very real possibility that their client could wind up in prison with no incentive to pay. Therefore, the public defender's office is swamped with cases. Unfortunately, this can take a toll on the level of service one can get from such a lawyer.

Court Appointed

In states where there is no dedicated public defender system or in cases where the PD office cannot take any more cases, the judge may appoint a private felony lawyer to take a case for a reduced fee. In most states, lawyers are required to perform a certain amount of pro bono hours, i.e., work for free as a public service. Defending a client who cannot pay falls into this category. If you're lucky, you could be appointed a very good felony attorney who would otherwise cost thousands of dollars to hire. You can be assured of the same good representation he would provide to a paying client since, after all, his reputation is still on the line.

Legal Aid

Most states have legal aid offices that can help indigent defendants find funding for their defense. Call your local office and see what they can do to help you. Even a little money may be enough to make the difference between needing the public defender or being able to hire a private felony attorney. You may also want to contact your State Bar association to see if they can provide you with any leads that can help.

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It is very common for a person to have their driver's license suspended as a result of being arrested for driving while intoxicated (DWI), driving under the influence (DUI) or for other drug related criminal charges. If your license is suspended, likely you will still need to drive. For this reason, the Texas Transportation Code enables a person to get a driver's license for limited occupational purposes despite the driver's license suspension. This special temporary and limited license is called an occupational driver's license in San Antonio Texas and surrounding counties.

The occupational driver's license will enable a person to legally drive only to go to work or to fulfill other essential needs. If a person is caught driving while a license is suspended in Texas, the person risks getting charged with Driving While License is Invalid, which is a class A misdemeanor. A person can face up to a year in jail for a class A misdemeanor in San Antonio Texas. It is therefore best to obtain this aforementioned occupational driver's license if your license was suspended due to the DWI, DUI or other drug offense. You likely will need to hire an attorney to get your occupational license.

The Attorney will file a petition for occupational driver's license, and will hold a short hearing before a judge to attempt to get your occupational driver's license granted. If the Judge signs off on the document, the person will legally be able to drive for 30 days with the certified signed copy. Then, the occupational license can become a working way to drive until the original license is reinstated, once DPS receives the necessary documents and reinstatement fees. The estimated cost of this process to the applicant of the occupational license can range anywhere from $850 to $1200 in San Antonio, Texas.

It is important to know that you will not be successful in obtaining this occupational license if you do not get what is called SR-22 insurance coverage during the period that you will have this temporary/occupational license. Your Attorney will provide you with a contact for obtaining this SR-22. After you hire your attorney, you should be able to pick up a certified copy of your occupational license by the end of the week. However, the process will not be entirely complete until all documents are sent to DPS. While the process may be overwhelming, you will have an attorney to do the majority of the work. Remember, you really should hire a criminal defense Attorney for this process as likely they will be the most familiar with it.

If you need more detailed information for how the occupational driver's license process works, go to: http://lawyerdefend.me/?page_id

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