If you are seeking the assistance of an attorney at court expense, you must complete a financial affidavit of your income and expenses to submit to the court when you appear before the United States Magistrate Judge.  Your financial affidavit is submitted under penalty of perjury and must be complete. The judge will determine whether you have sufficient assets to hire your own counsel. If you have sufficient funds, the judge may continue your matter for a reasonable time so that you can retain your own attorney.  If the judge determines you cannot afford the typical fees a private attorney charges in a case like yours, the judge will appoint an attorney to represent you.

The Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees your right to an attorney in a criminal case.  If you cannot afford an attorney, you should contact the Federal Public Defender’s Office at (213) 894-2854.  A Deputy Federal Public Defender (DFPD) will have you complete a financial affidavit to determine your inability to pay for an attorney.  This affidavit will accompany your request asking the court to provide you an attorney at the court’s cost.

You have a constitutional right to represent yourself during trial or to hire a private attorney of  your choice.  If you cannot afford a private attorney, you have a right to representation by a court-appointed attorney.  However, you have no constitutional right to chose which attorney the court appoints. 
If you are unsatisfied with your Deputy Federal Public Defender, discuss the problem first with your defender and try in earnest to resolve the conflict.  You can ask the court to appoint new counsel if all efforts to resolve the conflict with your attorney are unsuccessful.  A judge will not agree to appoint new counsel just because you are frustrated by your attorney’s presentation of the facts of your case or you believe the attorney’s legal tactics, defenses, and motions hinder your case.  The judge can only appoint new counsel if you prove that a complete breakdown in communication between you and your attorney is preventing your attorney from effectively representing you.

The Office of the Federal Public Defender for the Central District of California represents indigent defendants charged with committing federal crimes within Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.  The Federal Public Defender’s Office for the Central District is the largest organization in the federal defender services program.  The main office is located in downtown Los Angeles with two branch offices in Santa Ana and Riverside.

The Federal Public Defender’s Office represents defendants in federal criminal trials, criminal appeals, and civil habeas corpus challenges to state or federal criminal sentences or convictions.  The criminal practice is diverse and can include cases of counterfeiting, bank robbery, immigration law violations, narcotics violations, escape, interstate transportation of stolen property, wire and mail fraud, forgery, postal offenses, bribery of public officials, tax violations, extortion, threats against the President, loan sharking, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) violations, air piracy, cyber crime, child pornography offenses, espionage, kidnaping, and violent crimes of murder, rape, and assault which occur on federal property, military bases, or correctional institutions.