When will a defendant be deemed indigent for the services of a public defender?

We have said that: "This statutory standard [for determining indigency] is necessarily a flexible one and the question must be approached and solved realistically. The need for representation is immediate. It arises at least as early as the first formal criminal charge, which in this case was a complaint. Those having funds to employ private counsel generally have representation earlier than that." (People v. Ferry (1965) 237 Cal.App.2d 880, 886-887, italics added.) Thus, delay is to be avoided if possible. But the practice described instead causes delay in most if not all cases. Further, the delay caused by the practice here is not dispositive of the question to be decided by the trial court: defendant's indigency.

We agree with the Attorney General that a trial court has discretion as to how to determine whether a defendant is indigent. We have said before that "whether a defendant is eligible for services of the public defender is within the authority and discretion of the trial court. ' . . . Trial judges are in the best possible position administratively to decide the question involved, because the facts involved in each case must determine the answer.' [Citation.]" (People v. Longwith (1981) 125 Cal.App.3d 400, 410.) And by statute the court has the discretion to consider whether to overrule a public defender's contrary determination. (See 27706.) The practice of repeatedly

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