Why is the judge forcing me to hire a DUI lawyer and threatening jail at pretrial if I don’t?
Usually judges may make some comments about what can happen if you do not hire a lawyer, but the legal reality is that you have the right to defend yourself and you even have the right to refuse to defend yourself. You cannot be jailed for refusing to hire a lawyer or refusing to mount any defense. As the other responder has said, if you cannot afford to hire counsel, consider making a public defender request. Usually most counties will allow people at the lower end of the scale who cannot fully qualify to pay a reduced rate, or a “street rate” to hire a lawyer.
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