State v. Wischhusen

RAKER Judge.

The question presented in this case is whether the trial court erred in failing to apply Maryland Rule 4-215, governing a defendant’s waiver of the right to counsel, when the defendant agreed to proceed in the absence of counsel while the court considered a question raised by the jury during deliberations and subsequently reinstructed the jury. Although Rule 4-215 does not apply to waiver decisions made after trial has commenced, see State v. Brown, 342 Md. 404, 676 A.2d 513 (1996), we shall hold that the decision to waive the presence of counsel was tantamount to a waiver of the…