ROBERT ANTOINE WEATHERS v. STATE OF MARYLAND
Court of Special Appeals, Thieme, Dec. 1, 2016,
Discharge of Counsel – Abuse of discretion to deny defendant right to discharge counsel where counsel failed to speak with defendant prior to trial

(Concur- Graeff- Court should have granted a short continuance to allow them to speak)

Weathers received a panel attorney. He wanted to hire private counsel. Over the course of several months, he failed at retaining counsel and his panel attorney failed to familiarize himself with the case.
If only there was some system to hold attorneys and defendants responsible for their actions…
At any rate, Weathers discharged the panel attorney, but then the panel stayed in the case in a hybrid capacity that isn’t allowed… it all gets pretty weird

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.