The other day I went to visit a client in the Oakland County Jail who had been charged with Attempt to Commit Robbery While Unarmed. I had been retained; however the court appointed attorney beat me by a few minutes and was already speaking to my client. When he realized that I had been retained (and he would not get paid) he quickly left.
To my surprise, the court appointed attorney told my client to waive his preliminary examination and to plead guilty without ever seeing a police report.
Contrary to the court appointed hack, I actually took the time to read the police report. I did not waive the exam and the preliminary examination was held. It turned out the case was pretty weak and the prosecution agreed to reduce the charges to a misdemeanor assault. My client will get no jail and some probation. Had he listened to his court appointed attorney he would have had a felony and faced possible prison.
Sometimes it pays to hire your own lawyer.
