Yes it's worth it. Even the worst, most overworked public defender has spent years of their life in school, deals with a system you've likely never interacted with on a daily basis, and usually has some level of altruism. The reason you hear about people who win by representing themselves is because it's very rare for them to not get trampled by the system

If you can afford a private defense attorney, you probably should. Their case load will be considerably smaller.

That said? Public Defenders tend to be some of the hardest working and most passionate people out there. You generally don't get into that unless you believe in justice (even just being a corporate lawyer who rubber stamps paperwork tends to pay significantly more) and they obviously have a LOT of experience in whatever you just did. And they tend to have a solid rapport with most judges because they see them potentially multiple times a week.

So... how about you not be a dick to the people putting the work in?

bunch of genital-related posts and now this? you got in trouble, dickle?

If your options are a lawyer and self-representation, yeah. They're worth it.

"A person who represents themselves in court has a fool for a lawyer."

At the bare minimum, with a bad lawyer, you have a chance to appeal on a mistrial. Representing yourself, you don't even have that.

Having your own lawyer is better than legal aid.

Having legal aid is better than having nobody/defending yourself. but you should verify whats said before you commit to any deals.

Legal aid isnt inherently bad, but the system definitely seeks to undermine the defense they can provide you by grossly under funding the legal aid system for the workload it has, that can result in situations where legal aid workers carry inhumanly large case loads and just arent able to give your case the time or attention it should receive.

Worth what? You aren't paying them anything (unless your state's rules are really fucked up). They're definitely better than you defending yourself.

If it is your only option then yes legal aid is worth it.