USA - Need legal advice, possession and paraphernalia in Ohio

[90sj]

Myself and 2 friends were all charged with possession and paraphernalia (MM and M4, respectively). This is for marijuana and in the state of Ohio.

We all pled not guilty at our initial court appearance.

The first friend (I'll call him James) unfortunately had to go court this morning and the other 2 of us don't go till next week.

James got a lawyer and his outcome was: charges dropped, $500 fine, 80hrs community service, 1 year probation.

I, however, cannot afford a lawyer and am thinking towards getting a court appointed one.

What am I looking at here? Do I need to barrow money or take out a loan to get a lawyer? Or can I obtain the same outcome with a court appointed one?

Little background information. All 3 of us live together and currently attend The Ohio State University. We are all either 21 or 22. All clean records except I have an open container from last summer of 2008.

Myself and the other friend have the same court date next week with a 2 hour difference in time.

Thanks for any help.