STATE OF MARYLAND v. JERIKO GRAVES
Court of Appeals, Hotten, Filed April 22, 2016,
Discharge of Counsel – Where a defendant is not directly asked “why do you want to discharge your attorney?” and the reasons for the request instead come from defense counsel, then the defendant must be consulted on the record concerning those reasons. Otherwise, reversal for failure to strictly comply with Rule 4-215.

Where defense counsel indicated defendant wished to discharge him and obtain alternate counsel, the circuit court heard counsel’s explanation and then denied the postponement before asking the defendant if he still wished to discharge counsel.

For Rule 4-215:
(1) there must be a request to discharge counsel,
(2) the court must “permit the defendant to explain the reasons for the request[,]”
(3) the court must consider those reasons,
and (4) the court must determine whether the reasons given are meritorious.

A request for permission to discharge counsel triggering the process mandated by Md. Rule 4-215(e) is “‘any statement from which a court could conclude reasonably that the defendant may be inclined to discharge counsel.”

“Asking Respondent whether he wanted to fire his counsel is not the equivalent of asking him why he wanted to discharge his counsel.”