State v. Davis

In this case we are called upon to determine whether a defense attorney’s pretrial statements to an administrative judge were sufficient to trigger a Maryland Rule 4-215(e) inquiry into the merits of the defendant’s request to discharge counsel. Maurice Davis was arrested and charged with the burglary of a McDonald’s restaurant and the robbery of two of its employees in Baltimore County. On the morning of trial in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County, defense counsel told the court that, in his earlier conversation with Davis, the defendant had expressed unhappiness with his attorney’s…