Are you be available as a conflict panel attorney? please...

You should declare a conflict of interest if you feel there is one. Sometimes the PD will do it. You should understand the public defender doesn't do this on purpose. They are so busy that they really don't have the individual time to give each person. If you have any questions, please feel free to call me. Elliot Zarabi www.zarabilaw.com 213-612-7720

The law provides you with the right to competent legal representation -- not necessarily a friend and confidant. It is unlikely that a court will grant a motion to sub out your deputy public defender -- much less disqualify the Office of the PD and provide you with appointed counsel from the conflict panel -- because you feel the Dep PD is condescending in his attitude. The issue is whether he is providing you with legal representation to the requisite standard and your post does not make much of a case that he is not. The fact that the Deputy PD ignores you in court until the last minute is meaningless. Most of the important attorney-client communications and decisions are not made in court, and the court knows the time and caseload pressures that your attorney is working with. And, trust me, your PD could care less whether you are bi-lingual. It is the last thing from his mind. I suggest that you take a look at your own expectations and attitudes toward your attorney. If there is any distance or discomfort there, it is not unlikely that your actions and statements are part of the problem. Your PD chose that line of work very specifically and persists in it despite a vast and huge array of disincentives and professional disadvantages. Try working with your lawyer and stop reacting to perceptions of personal dislike. If the posture of your case means that your counsel must give you unwelcome advice and pessimistic assessments of the probable outcome of your case, that doesn't make him mean -- or incompetent.

I agree with Ms. Mccall above. The PD is not there to be your friend, he is there to represent you with your criminal charges. You may want to hire your own attorney if you are looking for more in this case. Good luck!