Possession of an Illegal Weapon

Hello! My question pertains to Colorado. I was recently arrested after I had been having problems with my marriage. (non violent). I tried killing myself with an altered shotgun. Wife called the cops as she was worried about me, they show up, see the gun and arrest me in a suicidal state. I ended up with a class 5 felony. Court date is coming up and honestly i'm terrified. This is my first offense ever. Should I seek out a good defense attorney or a public defender appointed by the court?

Quote:

---

Quoting Zombiiyoshii

---

Hello! My question pertains to Colorado. I was recently arrested after I had been having problems with my marriage. (non violent). I tried killing myself with an altered shotgun. Wife called the cops as she was worried about me, they show up, see the gun and arrest me in a suicidal state. I ended up with a class 5 felony. Court date is coming up and honestly i'm terrified. This is my first offense ever. Should I seek out a good defense attorney or a public defender appointed by the court?

---

Well, for starters if you can afford to pay for private counsel then you won’t qualify for a public defender. If you cannot afford a lawyer, then you certainly should apply for a public defender. The Colorado public defenders are, on the whole, reasonably good. What you won’t get with a public defender is a whole lot of his/her time to talk things over about your situation. The PD will cut to the chase and get what he or she needs to know to represent you, will let you know of important things in the case, and will appear at the various court hearings and the trial, should it come to that. So while you won't get quite the same attention you’d get (and pay for) with a private attorney, you should get competent representation and that will help you far more than if you tried to defend yourself.

Let me add that the public doesn't understand that public defenders also (in most cases) have private law practices. They are lawyers that have significant knowledge and relationships with the judges and prosecutors in the jurisdictions they work in. It's always a good bet to hire a PD in his/her private practice.

You can generally get the PD by applying at your first appearance. You will need to show proof of income.

Whether the counsel provided by the PD office is staff counsel or an outside appointed counsel depends very much on the state and what the nature of the charge. In Colorado, you're likely to have staff counsel for a charge like this.

I'm confused as to what you are charged with. A sawed-off shotgun is a "DANGEROUS" weapon, a state class 5 felony. An illegal weapon would be something like brass knuckles and only a misdemeanor. Felonies can have serious and life long repercussions. You very much need a GOOD lawyer.

I see a lot of legally insufficient motions filed by private attorneys and they are often easily dealt with through a motion to strike. In my area, the private attorneys file such motions to prove they are working hard for the client but they're pure boilerplate motions. The public defenders are at least as competent as the privates in my experience. There are a couple of private who are outstanding, but so are some of the PDs And outcomes are not any different in my experience. But the cases progress vastly more slowly with the privates.