I'm not sure why FL would be any different than other states, and would be willing to bet it actually isn't. Public Defenders are usually only appointed by the Court in criminal cases. In fact, I think FL is one of many states struggling to keep that program funded sufficiently, even though anyone convicted actually has to reimburse the State for those costs. I'd like to hear more about the case involved here, and who the OP thought was a public Defender. Might have been Legal Aid or even ACLU, but those are not paid with public funds.
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