That can't be the case for the woman featured in the article. She lost everything she had because she was in jail when her landlord evicted her and tossed all her belongings. Then she couldn't resume her career with a felony conviction on her record. This couldn't have been a financial decision. There was nothing for her to financially protect. If she was destitute, she could have gotten a court-appointed attorney. If it was that she didn't want to go to prison, she could have waited for the lab test to then decide if she wanted to accept the plea bargain. Was your friend in Canada? The only listings for 'care and control over 80' were from Canada. I don't know if they have court-appointed attorneys there. The case in the article was in the US. Who intends poor people to get screwed by criminal charges? What would they gain by it?