Denying Motion to Fire a Lawyer Before Trial In Texas

In Childress v. State, 794 S.W.2d 119, 121 (Tex. App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1990, writ ref'd), the defendant stated that he wanted to fire his counsel because he hadn't filed motions and because he did not feel that his lawyer would give his best effort. See Childress, 794 S.W.2d at 121. This request was made five days before trial was set to begin. The trial court refused to dismiss Childress' counsel. On review, the record did not reflect any bad faith, insincerity, or disloyalty towards appellant by his trial attorney. The Childress court held that it was not error to deny the defendant's motion to dismiss counsel. The court stressed the need for efficiency, the timing of the defendant's motion, and the weak reasons given by the defendant. See Childress, 794 S.W.2d at 122.