If this is your first court appearance after bonding out of jail and you have not violated your bond conditions, the answer is "No."
You should go to your court appearance and if you cannot afford to hire a lawyer, ask the court to appoint one for you. If you qualify financially, a lawyer will be appointed for you at no charge.
If you don't qualify for court-appointed counsel, ask the judge for more time to retain private counsel.
If this is not your first court appearance and the judge has previously told you that you don't qualify for appointed counsel and directed you to retain counsel, you should retain counsel before your appearance. If you are unable to afford a lawyer because the fees they quote you are too high, try to obtain a letter from each attorney you interviewed stating what their fees would be, so you can show the Judge you have made efforts to retain counsel, but even though you are not indigent you haven't been able to afford one.
You should also check and see if there is a lawyer referral service in your area that can provide you with the names of lawyers who might take your case at a reduced rate.
The one thing you should not do is fail to appear in court because you don't have a lawyer. If you fail to appear, your bond will be revoked and a warrant will issue for your arrest.
Answered on Jan 30th, 2009 at 12:13 AM