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Rule 4-214 – Defense Counsel

May 13, 2021 | Criminal Prodcedure, Maryland

(a) Appearance. Counsel retained or appointed to represent a defendant shall enter an appearance within five days after accepting employment, after appointment, or after the filing of the charging document in court, whichever occurs later. An appearance may be entered by filing a pleading or motion or by filing a written notice of appearance. An appearance entered in the District Court will automatically be entered in the circuit court when a case is transferred to the circuit court because of a demand for jury trial. In any other circumstance, counsel who intends to continue representation in the circuit court after appearing in the District Court must re-enter an appearance in the circuit court.

Cross reference: See Rules 4-213.1 and 4-216.2(b) with respect to the automatic termination of the appearance of the Public Defender or court-appointed attorney upon the conclusion of an initial appearance before a judicial officer and upon the conclusion of a hearing to review a pretrial release decision of a commissioner if no general appearance under this Rule is entered.

(b) Extent of Duty of Appointed Counsel. When counsel is appointed by the Public Defender or by the court, representation extends to all stages in the proceedings, including but not limited to custody, interrogations, preliminary hearing, pretrial motions and hearings, trial, motions for modification or review of sentence or new trial, and appeal. The Public Defender may relieve appointed counsel and substitute new counsel for the defendant without order of court by giving notice of the substitution to the clerk of the court. Representation by the Public Defender’s office may not be withdrawn until the appearance of that office has been stricken pursuant to section (d) of this Rule. The representation of appointed counsel does not extend to the filing of subsequent discretionary proceedings including petition for writ of certiorari, petition to expunge records, and petition for post conviction relief.
(c) Inquiry Into Joint Representation.

(1)Joint Representation. Joint representation occurs when:

(A) an offense is charged that carries a potential sentence of incarceration;
(B) two or more defendants have been charged jointly or joined for trial under Rule 4-253(a); and
(C) the defendants are represented by the same counsel or by counsel who are associated in the practice of law.
(2)Court’s Responsibilities in Cases of Joint Representation. If a joint representation occurs, the court, on the record, promptly and personally shall (A) advise each defendant of the right to effective assistance of counsel, including separate representation and (B) advise counsel to consider carefully any potential areas of impermissible conflict of interest arising from the joint representation. Unless there is good cause to believe that no impermissible conflict of interest is likely to arise, the court shall take appropriate measures to protect each defendant’s right to counsel.

Cross reference: See Rule 19-301.7 of the Maryland Attorneys’ Rules of Professional Conduct.

(d) Striking Appearance. A motion to withdraw the appearance of counsel shall be made in writing or in the presence of the defendant in open court. If the motion is in writing, moving counsel shall certify that a written notice of intention to withdraw appearance was sent to the defendant at least ten days before the filing of the motion. If the defendant is represented by other counsel or if other counsel enters an appearance on behalf of the defendant, and if no objection is made within ten days after the motion is filed, the clerk shall strike the appearance of moving counsel. If no other counsel has entered an appearance for the defendant, leave to withdraw may be granted only by order of court. The court may refuse leave to withdraw an appearance if it would unduly delay the trial of the action, would be prejudicial to any of the parties, or otherwise would not be in the interest of justice. If leave is granted and the defendant is not represented, a subpoena or other writ shall be issued and served on the defendant for an appearance before the court for proceedings pursuant to Rule 4-215.

Md. Crim. Causes. 4-214

This Rule is in part derived from former Rule 725 and M.D.R. 725 and in part from the 2009 version of Fed. R. Crim. P. 44.

Adopted April 6, 1984, eff. July 1, 1984. Amended June 3, 1988, eff. July 1, 1988; May 8, 2007, eff. July 1, 2007; Sept. 10, 2009, eff. Oct. 1, 2009; May 27, 2014, eff. July 1, 2014; June 6, 2016, eff. July 1, 2016; Dec. 13, 2016, eff. Apr. 1, 2017; February 16, 2017, eff. July 1, 2017.

HISTORICAL NOTES

2007 Orders

The May 8, 2007, order amended the cross reference.

2009 Orders

The September 10, order, in section (b), corrected an internal reference; added a new section (c); added a cross reference following the new section (c); redesignated the existing section (c) as section (d); and updated the source note.

2014 Orders

The May 27, 2014 order added a cross references to (a) and (d).

2016 Orders

The June 6, 2016, order revised internal references in the Rule.

The December 13, 2016, order specified that an attorney enters an appearance by filing a written request for the entry of an appearance or by filing a pleading or motion.

2017 Orders

The February 16, 2017, order, revised internal references.

See Rules 4-213.1 and 4-216.2(b) with respect to the automatic termination of the appearance of the Public Defender or court-appointed attorney upon the conclusion of an initial appearance before a judicial officer and upon the conclusion of a hearing to review a pretrial release decision of a commissioner if no general appearance under this Rule is entered.