BUT AREN'T PRIVATE ATTORNEY'S EXPENSIVE ?
The fees of private attorneys in criminal cases are not set by law. They are negotiable and vary widely. Generally, an attorney can charge whatever he, or she, wants for their services so long as the fees are reasonable under the circumstances and not unconscionable.
What is "reasonable" depends upon a number of factors including the value of the services performed, the novelty, complexity and difficulty of the case, the degree of skill required to perform the necessary services properly, the degree to which the acceptance of the case will preclude the lawyer from other employment, the results obtained, the time limitations imposed by the client or by circumstances, the nature and length of the professional relationship, the experience, reputation and ability of the lawyer, and the amount of time and labor required.
The danger of adopting a "consumer attitude": Ours is a consumer-oriented society. We have become accustomed to thinking of ourselves as "consumers" of goods and services and we are. But that attitude which tends to make us "bargain-hunters", is often based upon the assumption that all products, or services, of a particular type are identical, and leads us to frequently make decisions based solely upon "price", rather than upon quality or value.
That kind of thinking may work alright when you are buying corn flakes at the grocery store but it can, literally, prove fatal when you are "buying" legal services -- especially the services of a criminal lawyer -- because it assumes that all criminal lawyers have equal education, training, experience and skill. They don't.
When you are charged with a serious crime, it may not be the time to economize, to "cut-corners", to try to save by hunting for the "best bargain". In terms of price, the "best bargain" is always going to be the public defender's office because its "free" and if price is your sole criteria for selecting a lawyer, you can't beat free!
People frequently hope for the best, want to believe that everything will work out alright, and that, ultimately, the charges against them will be dismissed, or that they will be acquitted, and can return to their homes, their family, their hopes and dreams of a better life -- and want to conserve whatever money or worldly goods they may have for that day.
They certainly cannot be faulted for that and maintaining a positive attitude is certainly essential when you are accused of a serious crime!
But "what if"? What if they hold back, take less than their best shot at obtaining a dismissal or winning an acquittal? What, if as a result of failing to make a maximum effort, they get convicted?
Even if they are released in just a few years, four years at Soledad is not the equivalent of four years at Stanford! What is their life going to be like after prison? Are they really going to be able to go back to their home, their family, their old job, their old life (which however bad it may have seemed was infinitely better than prison)?
What of those who have been convicted of a sex crime, have served their time, paid their debt to society, and been released only to find that they have to register with the police as a sex offender in any community in which they live, be a potential suspect in any sex crime that ever occurs there, and, now, have the police warn their neighbors of their presence under the newest "Meagan's Law", as they try to put their lives back together?
To answer the question, "Are private attorney's expensive?", you have to ask another question, "Compared to what?" Those are questions that only you can, ultimately, answer.