A Marsden motion is the only means by which a criminal defendant can fire a court-appointed attorney or communicate directly with a judge in a California state court.[1] It is based on a defendant's claim that the attorney is providing ineffective assistance or has a conflict with the defendant. The name comes from the case People v. Marsden. A defendant is required to know to make a challenge of ineffective assistance of counsel, and make one, or the claim of ineffective assistance of counsel or the issue cannot be raised on appeal. There is no requirement to notify a defendant of such a requirement.
A criminal defendant cannot simply fire a court-appointed attorney. The trial judge has discretion whether or not to appoint new counsel on request of the defendant.
A Marsden motion is a unique means by which a criminal defendant can communicate with the court. A criminal defendant who is represented by counsel can only communicate with the court through that counsel. Since that counsel's competency or ability to work with the defendant is being challenged, the attorney cannot at the same time defend against and represent the defendant's claims of incompetency or conflict. So the California courts allow a defendant represented by court-appointed counsel to directly communicate with the trial judge in the context of a Marsden motion, and only in such a context.
A Marsden motion is a formal request made by a criminal defendant to the court. The court hears arguments on the motion from the defendant and the attorney, without the presence of the prosecutor. The basis for making the motion may be inadequate or ineffective assistance of counsel, legal malpractice, or because there is a conflict between attorney and client that substantially interferes with the attorney representing the client. The defendant must establish either that the representation has been inadequate, or that a conflict makes it likely that it will be inadequate.[2][3] In the case of a denial of the motion, the standard of review is abuse of discretion.