Your Right to a Tampa Criminal Lawyer

Under the Constitution of the United States every citizen is entitled to be represented by a Tampa criminal lawyer in court cases in Tampa. This also means that you are entitled to be represented by a lawyer who is competent and experienced with your case. Being entitled to a lawyer does not just mean a lawyer being present in court, but also arguing your defense throughout the trial.


If you do not have the financial means to hire a private Tampa criminal lawyer then you are entitled to have a court appointed lawyer instead. This is mentioned in the Miranda rights which are read to you at the time of arrest. To be eligible for a court appointed attorney you should fall into at least one the following:

• Be charged with a felony or Class A misdemeanor
• Are a juvenile charged with committing an offense of juvenile delinquency
• Have violated probation
• Are under arrest and as such as entitled to legal representation under law
• Have violated an order of supervised release or are facing modification, reduction, enlargement, extension or revocation of a supervised release order
• Are entitled to a mental condition hearing
• Are a material witness in custody
• Are entitled to have a Tampa criminal lawyer appointed under the sixth amendment
• Face loss of liberty
• Are entitled to have an attorney appointed

If you are appointed an Tampa criminal lawyer then the cost of that lawyer should be made known to you up front. The court is obliged to make public what the cost of the trial will be during each phase and that the state is paying for your legal counsel. Once a lawyer has been appointed to you, you cannot request to change them unless you can prove serious misconduct, that they are acting outside of your best interests or some other reason in which the judge would consider approving a change of counsel. You do have the right though to hire a private Tampa criminal lawyer at anytime during the trial.

Being represented by an adequate and competent lawyer is a right for every citizen, however your case could be thrown out if it is proven later that your lawyer was not providing adequate representation. You maybe re-tried or have a verdict quashed because of your lawyer’s incompetence in your case. If you are entitled to a court appointed lawyer and are not provided with one, then you can claim incompetence on part of the state where your case is being tried.