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State of M aryland v. Be rnard Ca mpbell a.k.a . Sean K elly, No. 63, September Term, 2004.

Criminal Law: Trial. A defen dant's right to dis charge co unsel, to permit either substitution of counsel or self-representation, is curtailed once meaningful trial proceedings have commenced because the mandatory nature of Maryland Rule 4-215(e) is inapplicable. The decision to permit discharge of counsel after trial has be gun is within the trial court's discretion through inquiry of the defendant's reasons for the request in consideration of the factors delineated in State v. Brown, 342 Md. 404, 676 A.2d. 513 (1996). Under the circumstances of this case, the defendant's expressed dissatisfaction with his attorney during trial qualified as a request to discharge counsel because the defendant's reasons for wanting to dismiss his cou nsel w ere app arent. The trial judge was not required to make any further inquiry an d prop erly denie d the req uest to d ischarg e coun sel.

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF MARYLAND

No. 63

September Term, 2004

STATE OF MARYLAND v. BERNARD CAMPBELL A/K/A SEAN KELLY

Bell, C.J. Raker Wilner Cathell Harrell Battaglia Greene, JJ.

Opinion by Battaglia, J. Bell, C.J. and Raker, J. Dissent

Filed: March 15, 2005

In this case we are asked to consider whether the defendant, Bernard Campbell, a.k.a. Sean Kelly, made a request to discharge counsel when he expressed dissatisfaction with his attorney during trial. If C ampbell's s tatements co nstitute a request to discharge counsel, we also must determ ine wheth er the trial court p roperly denied the request. We conclude that under the circumstances of this case, Campbell's expressed dissatisfaction with his attorney qualified as a request to d ischarge co unsel that w as properly de nied by the trial co urt. I. Facts and Procedural History On November 16, 2001, Destiny Cam pbell, then thirte en month s old, was in the care and custody of her father, Bernard Campbell, when she suffered second degree burns to her lower torso and legs, a deep-colored bruise on her left cheek, a small cut across her nose, and a skull fracture. She was rushed to the hospital by her mother and treated by doctors, who called the Baltimore County Police Department to report Destiny's injuries. Baltimore County Police beg an an inve stigation of th e incident, qu estioned Campbell, inspected h is home, and obtained a w arrant for Campb ell's arrest. Campbell was arre sted and charged with two counts of child abuse 1 and three c ounts of a ssault. 2

1

Campb ell was cha rged with two cou nts of child abuse under Md. Code (1957, 1996 Repl. Vo l., 2000 Cu m. Supp .), Art. 27

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