Lara

Factual Background

Appellant Mario Lara was charged and convicted of first degree burglary and sentenced to the third strike term of 25 years to life, with an additional 11 years for prior serious felonies and prior prison term enhancements.

Appellant hired privately retained counsel, David Roberts, to represent him throughout the criminal proceedings. Appellant’s trial was delayed over one and one-half years. On the day the trial was scheduled to begin, appellant requested to discharge his attorney. However, the trial court mistakenly treated appellant’s request as a motion to discharge his court-appointed-attorney, pursuant to People v. Marsden (1970) 2 Cal.3d 118 [ 84 Cal.Rptr. 156 , 465 P.2d 44 ], and denied appellant’s motion. On appeal, appellant contends he was entitled to discharge his privately retained counsel without complying with the factors required by Marsden , and the trial court’s erroneous treatment of his motion resulted in the violation of his Sixth Amendment right to counsel.

We will find the trial court improperly treated appellant’s request to discharge his privately retained counsel as a Marsden motion and will reverse appellant’s…