Some lawyers who defend the indigent -- especially public defenders -- are heroes of ours. They are overworked and underpaid, but they do a terrific job of representing the oppressed.

If you are appointed a lawyer in a criminal case in Texas, your court-appointed lawyer may be a truly outstanding attorney. He may also be an incompetent hack. By the same token, if you hire a lawyer for a criminal case in Texas, your retained lawyer might be either a fine attorney or a bungler.

One major difference between court-appointed counsel and retained counsel, though, is that you can't choose your court-appointed counsel. You get what the judge gives you.

The State Bar of Texas Committee on Legal Services to the Poor in Criminal Matters issued its report on indigent defense in Texas on June 9, 2000.

The House Research Organization of the Texas House of Representatives has produced a report, "The Best Defense: Representing Indigent Criminal Defendants." To download it, please follow these four steps:

1. Go to www.capitol.state.tx.us/hrofr/frame4.htm
2. Click on "Focus Reports"
3. Scroll to and click on the title, "The Best Defense: Representing Indigent Criminal Defendants"
4. You need Adobe Acrobat Reader to download the report. It is a .pdf file. Go to www.adobe.com if you do not have the Reader.
   

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