If you cannot afford to hire an attorney, the Santa Clara Public Defender may be a great option for you. The public defenders in this county are excellent attorneys, well trained, access to great defense investigators, experienced and they all know how to take cases to trial. For example, two current federal judges are former Santa Clara County Public Defender lawyers. Furthermore, if you have a public defender, then you do not have to pay for experts or investigators because the county pays for all of that. However, this option is only for the indigent. If the accused is in jail they automatically qualify for the public defender. Here is a link to the Santa Clara County Public Defender.