court-appointed lawyers

I have a friend in Ohio who is being charged with felonious assault. His lawyer was court-appointed and they will not appoint a new one. His lawyer has not discussed the case with him, only told him to 'take the deal' without hearing my friend's side of the story. He does not return any of my friend's phone calls, has given a false fax number. Its like this lawyer has already judged him as guilty and is treating him that way. The lawyer failed, twice, in telling my friend about court dates, thus causing my friend to go to jail twice. My friend's brother asked the lawyer about this, and the lawyer replied that 'he's not his secretary.' This lawyer seems very questionable. He has not discussed the case with my friend, like for example, what could happen if he pleads innocence but the jury finds him guilty. (My friend requested a jury trial because he did not have faith in his attorney and the judge to decide his fate.) Also, my friend's innocence was verified in another court by a third party who admitted to lying! My friend had to get the transcript of those proceedings himself which he is going to use for his up-coming court date. He is very worried that his lawyer will not present his case favorably for him, and if that is the case, he's going to try to represent himself, but he's not sure if the judge will let him. So my question is this... what can a person do if a court-appointed lawyer is making little to no effort, as above? Or I suppose the real question is, what should my friend do?

You may file a complaint with the State Bar against the attorney; but your friend should hire new counsel to take over the case asap--borrow the money if he has to but get rid of that lawyer if he will not change his behavior.