theprestige
Penultimate Amazing
I don't think that's quite correct. You have the right to get a lawyer and bring them with you, when you are being interrogated. And you have the right to not cooperate with interrogation unless and until you've gotten yourself a lawyer.You are eligible for a public defender the very moment you are being interrogated as a person of interest in a crime. Conditions of pretrial confinement are squarely within public defense practice.
I think to actually get a public defender, you have to go to court, tell the court you want a lawyer, and meet the court's eligibility standard for getting a state-funded lawyer. You don't have the right to bring a public defender down to the police station in the middle of the night, to advise you on whether or not to take a state-mandated BAC test.