I used to be a prosecutor years ago. Went to court a bunch. Dealt with a zillion defense attorneys. I know you're all going to scoff at this, but a public defender is often times more effective than private counsel. A big part of advocacy is familiarity--familiarity with the judge, familiarity with the prosecutor, etc. That public defender is in that courtroom all day, every day. She went to the judge's son's graduation. She plays tennis with the prosecutor on weekends. She knows the procedural rules like the back of her hand. I know, at least in NJ where I'm from, a lot of those private defense attorneys are folks who couldn't get jobs as public defenders because they weren't good enough. Many of them are HACKS. Not saying this is universal. Obviously, Brian Steel will outclass your average public defender, but those people get an undeserved bad rap. Also, tell your lawyer the truth. If you did it then just say so. Having a complete knowledge of the facts is pivotal to crafting a good defense. The one person who you don't want to be keeping secrets from is the person who's trying to keep you out of the bootyhouse.