Opinion ID: 2161403
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: 658 Counsel's Request to Withdraw.

Text: On the day of the trial, Mr. Cullen's attorney asked to withdraw. He informed the court that Mr. Cullen was uncooperative and had complained that he did not trust his lawyer, who had been appointed by the court. In view of the time of the request and also in view of Mr. Cullen's peculiar demeanor (which prompted the sanity inquiry discussed above), we believe that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying counsel's request to withdraw. See Browne v. State (1964), 24 Wis. (2d) 491, 508, 129 N. W. (2d) 175, 131 N. W. (2d) 169. The moment of trial had arrived; the witnesses were at hand. The trial court had a right to weigh the impact on others in determining whether counsel should be permitted to withdraw. People v. Wolff (1960), 19 Ill. (2d) 318, 167 N. E. (2d) 197, certiorari denied, 364 U. S.874, 81 Sup. Ct. 119, 5 L. Ed. (2d) 96. The court may properly have had misgivings as to whether Mr. Cullen's hostility to his attorney constituted entirely competent and intelligent conduct or waiver in light of his unusual behavior and the question as to his sanity. The problem of waiver on the part of the mentally incompetent defendant has been discussed by Professor David Fellman in his scholarly study of The Right to Counsel Under State Law, 1955 Wisconsin Law Review, 281, 302. It should further be noted that after the denial of the request to withdraw, Mr. Cullen's attorney did, in fact, continue to represent him during the trial, and no claim is being advanced that such representation was incompetent. The charge is made, however, that the client's lack of confidence in his attorney impeded the needed communication between attorney and client. Under all the circumstances, we find that there was no abuse of discretion.