I do carry and just wanted to have a very good lawyer

[Mithras61]

Last time I checked, public defenders are available to anyone who asks for them to take the case. Regardless of their financial status.

From what I know of Public Defenders, they are worth every penny you pay them...

[WildBill]

Last time I checked, public defenders are available to anyone who asks for them to take the case. Regardless of their financial status.

This is not true. This what the Supreme Court ruled [emphasis mine]:

The person in custody must, prior to interrogation, be clearly informed that he or she has the right to remain silent, and that anything the person says may be used against that person in court; the person must be clearly informed that he or she has the right to consult with an attorney and to have that attorney present during questioning, and that, if he or she is indigent, an attorney will be provided at no cost to represent him or her.

[HKUSP45C]

Last time I checked, public defenders are available to anyone who asks for them to take the case. Regardless of their financial status.

This is not true. This what the Supreme Court ruled [emphasis mine]:

The person in custody must, prior to interrogation, be clearly informed that he or she has the right to remain silent, and that anything the person says may be used against that person in court; the person must be clearly informed that he or she has the right to consult with an attorney and to have that attorney present during questioning, and that, if he or she is indigent, an attorney will be provided at no cost to represent him or her.

I stand corrected and acknowledge my ignorance. Thank you for clearing that up.

I found this:

Getting A Public Defender Appointed
If you can't afford to hire a lawyer from the private legal community, the court can appoint a government-paid lawyer called a "public defender"- to represent you.

In order to have a public defender, you'll have to convince the judge that you can't afford to hire an attorney on your own. The judge may ask you to fill out a form detailing your financial resources, assets, income and debts. You may also need to provide the court with documentation such as paystubs to prove your income level.

Standards for how much money you can make and still qualify for a public defender vary greatly from state to state, and sometimes from one court to another.

In rural areas and in courts with meager resources, there might not be public defenders on staff with the court to represent you. In that case, the court will usually appoint a private attorney at public expense, or assign a private attorney from a volunteer attorney list to represent you.

In some courts, judges allow for what's called "partial indigency" representation: you have the help of a public defender, but are expected to reimburse the court some of the cost of representation after the trial.

If you give inaccurate information to the court in an effort to get a public defender appointed, you may be charged with the crime of falsifying information.

If the court decides you make too much money to qualify for a public defender, you'll want to immediately start looking for a private attorney to defend you.

[dicion]

Check out

http://www.concealedcarrylegal.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I got this from the Other Chlpp thread

This place says they will represent you all Through Trial, if necessary, even if you are billed, for no additional cost.

If you find yourself in a use of force/self defense situation, Concealed Carry Legal Services will send an attorney to your location anywhere within the territory of your coverage as defined in your service contract. The attorney will be there on location to guide you through the process, from the initial statement made to law enforcement, through any follow up investigation, including representation at the Grand Jury proceedings. We will not abandon you should your need for legal representation continue. This policy will represent you all the way through trial if necessary. We dispatch a lawyer to represent you immediately after the shooting incident.

And in their FAQ:

Does my coverage continue after the grand jury?

Yes. YOUR COVERAGE CONTINUES BEYOND YOUR GRAND JURY APPEARANCE. Your legal expenses up through and including any criminal and/or civil trials that result from your self defense/use of force situation are covered by the CCLS policy. Please refer to the ‘Coverage Process’ link found on the homepage, which explains the normal timeline of events.

[Keith B]

[Last time I checked, public defenders are available to anyone who asks for them to take the case. Regardless of their financial status.

This is not true. This what the Supreme Court ruled [emphasis mine]:

The person in custody must, prior to interrogation, be clearly informed that he or she has the right to remain silent, and that anything the person says may be used against that person in court; the person must be clearly informed that he or she has the right to consult with an attorney and to have that attorney present during questioning, and that, if he or she is indigent, an attorney will be provided at no cost to represent him or her.

Darn, guess I'm outta luck. I thought that said if he or she is indignant, and anyone that knows me will testify to that!

[WildBill]

I stand corrected and acknowledge my ignorance. Thank you for clearing that up.

Thank you for being so gracious.

This is a true story: I was in court one day when a defendant asked the presiding judge to appoint him a public defender. The judge asked the defendant, who was wearing a suit, how he got to court that day. The defendant responded that he drove his car.

The judge told him that if he had enough money to wear a such a nice suit and drive his own car, he could sell them and hire an attorney.

[ELB]

My opinion is that until proven guilty the access to law/courts should be no cost to citizens. And I do not agree with any "Court Costs" either. It is all bull as far as I am concerned. Just another money grab.

If you want to find out all the flaws with universal, single-payer (i.e. gubbmint) health care, just send up bill in Congress that proposes the same thing for legal services... Overnight the legal industry will generate reams of arguments about how it is unconstitutional, un -American, environmentally unfriendly, the greatest threat to freedom since the dinosaurs disappeared, elevates your bad cholestoral, on and on... A snowball in Lucifer's hand would be considered elderly compared to the time it would take the law lobby to kill such a bill...

[t1eyer]

Let me tell you, I just went through this nightmare a couple weeks back in San Antonio and I was in real need. I contacted everyone who I could think of and I mean everyone from the NRA, ACLU (yeah, I know), TSRA, TCHA, CHLPP, etc... To be fair, I'm only a member of the NRA and my local gun club. Anyway, the TSRA and the CHLPP (I think on urging from the TCHA) called me the very next day with recomendations, but again I'm not a member of either so they only provided recomendations and a lot of sympathy. Now this is where it's a little funny, the TSRA recomended attorney had 40yrs experience and wanted $15, 000 for everything before a trial and double if a trial was needed. The CHLPP recomended attorney had less than a year experience and was $1,500 for everything before a trial and double if a trial was needed. So take that for what its worth but, both the TSRA and the CHLPP were responsive and seemed to care. I received a few other recomendations from friends or other board members and their fees were all somewhere in the middle. I personally visited four attorney's a few days later and spoke at length with them all. Each had a different take or angle for my paticular problem and I went with a guy that seemed most caring and competent. I did not qualify for a public defender and I guess I'll probably be glad for that in the long run after hearing several stories.

Now, I'm far from being an alarmist or a "nit picker" after the fact, but had I had the foresight to have a plan my ordeal would have been easier on my nerves and saved me a lot of uneeded anxiety. I believe I did nothing wrong but apparently the SAPD doesn't share my belief and this is going to a long, exhaustive, and expensive journey.

Have a plan!

[Nazrat]

My opinion is that until proven guilty the access to law/courts should be no cost to citizens. And I do not agree with any "Court Costs" either. It is all bull as far as I am concerned. Just another money grab.

It's disgusting that Bobby the Robber who never worked an honest day in his life and never paid taxes gets a free lawyer at taxpayer expense. But Joan the Plumber who works hard and pays her taxes has to hire a defense lawyer at her own expense when she shoots Bobby in her bedroom at 2am when he breaks in to rape her and steal her jewelry.

Last time I checked, public defenders are available to anyone who asks for them to take the case. Regardless of their financial status.

Public defenders do not exist in most counties in Texas. You are required to be found indigent by the court to have an attorney appointed for you. It is not a formality to be found indigent.

I am a lawyer and have seen the wide disparity between cases regarding the finding of indigency and the quality of the appointed counsel. It just depends on who is next on the "list" or present in the courtroom or recently asked to judge to get appointments.

The good news is that there is a more stringent requirement to be appointed on a capital case. Those defenders are required to have a minimum of trial experience as first or second chair with capital charges.

So, try to get charged with a capital crime if you want an appointed attorney.

[WildBill]

Now, I'm far from being an alarmist or a "nit picker" after the fact, but had I had the foresight to have a plan my ordeal would have been easier on my nerves and saved me a lot of uneeded anxiety. I believe I did nothing wrong but apparently the SAPD doesn't share my belief and this is going to a long, exhaustive, and expensive journey.

Have a plan!

Excellent Advice. I wish you the best during your upcoming "ordeal."

[WildBill]

I'll add one last point ... this is an insurance plan that is amazingly profitable. Virtually none of us will ever actually need our weapons for self defense. The few of us that may end up using them will have a statistically insignificant number that actually pull the trigger. Of that minute group a smaller still sub-sret will actually kill their aggressor.

One last point - I would have to agree that the right company, offering the right services and having enough clients, could be profitable. Maybe I am nitpicking, but CHLPP states that they are a "legal service." Nowhere on their website do they ever mention the word "insurance" or "insurance plan." I believe that insurance companies operate under a whole different set of rules and regulations than a "legal service."

[Grokked]

I have been thinking about this issue for the last few months and came across a possible solution while I was at the grand opening of the new facility for The Arms Room today (nice place, btw).

One of the vendors there was Walker, Rice, & Wisdom P.C. who have an offering called [Pre-paid legal service] ([Pre-paid legal service].com). I am still investigating, but based on my conversation with one of the principals in the company, you pay a monthly or annual fee and they come to your aid if you have an incident. They will provide completely covered legal representation during a police investigation, grand jury proceedings, and criminal and civil trials. Even travel is included if the incident occurs outside of the Houston area, but expert witnesses and appeals, if either are needed, are not included.

I am still going to look into other options, but this is very close to what I would like to have.

[TexasGal]

These services seem to cover you to one degree or another within your own state. What if you are traveling out of state?

[TxSheepdog]

These services seem to cover you to one degree or another within your own state. What if you are traveling out of state?

A CHLPP member is covered for any exposure of the member's weapon or use of force in a self-defense incident in any state that recognizes a CHLPP member's Concealed Handgun license or Concealed Carry permit issued by any state licensing agency. For example, if you have a CHL issued by any state, you are covered if you were to be involved in an self-defense incident in any state that recognizes that state issued CHL.

From the first page on their website. I'm looking into it right now...

[OldCannon]

You might want to check out http://www.chlpp.com

Interesting site, but, oh Lordy do they need to find somebody that knows something about website design. Their pages are rife with bad design