I guess what I meant is that it would only work if you had a lawyer who had a relationship with the DA, but not if you were just some random 17 year old kid representing yourself...unless you were really good, really well prepared, and didn't act like an asshole when you were talking to the judge, which would be hard since most judges automatically assume that any high-school kid who tries to represent himself is an idiot.
And I won't end up with any debt because I got a good scholarship, and being in law school these days is better than being unemployed like all my friends from undergrad who signed first-year contracts with investment banks and then got laid off. Only a couple of them made it, the rest are trying to work for their dads or go back to school.