Carolina Criminal Defense & DUI Lawyer UpdatesThe Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees defendants charged with a crime the right to legal counsel. The North Carolina State Constitution reinforces that protection in Article I, Section 23 Declaration of Rights. A lot of folks facing a criminal allegation assume that legal right is absolute. As long as they want an attorney, the Court must provide one. That’s not always the case. Indeed, there are things you can do to lose your right to a lawyer.
TL;DR: The February 2026 NC Court of Appeals Decision, State v. Webber, upheld a trial judge’s decision to strip a defendant of the right to counsel and force them to stand trial alone. The defendant had burned through four appointed attorneys over several years, privately retained a fifth, refused court-appointed counsel, and walked into the courtroom on the day of trial without a lawyer. The Court found the defendant forfeited and otherwise waived the right to counsel through their conduct.
North Carolina courts look at the totality of circumstances before stripping a defendant of the right to counsel. No single act automatically triggers forfeiture. What follows are the seven patterns set forth in Webber that, alone or in combination, can cost a defendant their lawyer:
1. Firing or Conflicting Out Multiple Attorneys, Especially on the Day of Trial
North Carolina courts may treat the timing of a dismissal of legal counsel as evidence of intent. When a defendant fires an attorney on the morning the case is called for trial, the Court could view that as something other than a genuine disagreement about representation. The Webber record showed that three of four appointed attorneys were fired or conflicted out on the day the case reached the trial calendar. Courts look at that pattern and may conclude the defendant is using the attorney relationship as a delay mechanism rather than as a tool for defending themselves.
2. Refusing to Meet With Appointed Counsel
It’s near impossible to prepare a defense without the client. When a defendant misses scheduled meetings, the attorney is precluded from developing a trial strategy and could therefore be required to either request a continuance or go to trial underprepared. In Webber, the State documented a recurring pattern across multiple attorneys in which the defendant failed to appear for scheduled meetings, directly contributing to each attorney’s inability to prepare. Courts may treat that conduct as the defendant’s choice, not the criminal defense attorney’s failure.
3. Screaming at or Threatening an Attorney
A breakdown in communication is one thing. A defendant who screams at their defense lawyer in a courthouse vestibule loud enough for a bailiff to close the courtroom doors is doing something different. North Carolina courts recognize that aggressive or threatening behavior toward legal counsel can rise to the level of egregious misconduct that justifies forfeiture of the right to counsel. The defendant does not have to physically assault anyone. Volume and hostility that make a professional working relationship impossible can be enough.
4. Manufacturing Artificial Conflicts to Force a Continuance
Courts in North Carolina tend to carefully review assertions that a defendant and their attorney cannot work together. The Court (the Judge) does not always accept such factual claims at face value. A trial judge who observes a pattern in which conflict arises precisely when a trial date approaches may conclude that the conflict is manufactured by the defendant rather than genuine. Conflicts created by the criminal defendant on the morning of trial may be inferred as artificially created to force yet another delay. That finding, supported by the record, can give the Court authority to deny appointment of alternate legal counsel and proceed to trial.
5. Refusing Appointed Counsel Without a Genuine Financial Alternative
A defendant who waives court-appointed counsel assumes the responsibility of retaining private counsel. When that defendant then appears without counsel and explains they cannot afford a private attorney because a prior attorney kept the retainer, the Court faces a practical problem sometimes deemed to have been created by the defendant.
6. Appearing for Trial Without Counsel After Multiple Explicit Warnings
North Carolina courts warn a defendant before forfeiting the right to legal counsel. When specific, repeated, and documented, with several judges telling the defendant on multiple dates that the State intends to call the case first on the trial calendar and that proceedings would move forward regardless of whether they had secured legal counsel and the defendant heard those warnings, acknowledged them, and appeared again without a lawyer anyway, the Court may treat that as a decision, not an accident.
7. A Documented Pattern That Prevents the Case From Ever Reaching Trial
It’s important to note that no single act in Webber drove the forfeiture finding. What affected the decision to deny appointment of counsel was a totality of circumstances. The Court considered factors such as more than five years had expired from arrest to trial, there were four appointed attorneys, one privately retained attorney, two formal waivers of appointed counsel, repeated missed appointments, documented screaming, and a defendant who appeared on trial day alone after being warned at least twice in the preceding four months. North Carolina law recognizes that when a defendant’s conduct prevents a trial, the right to counsel becomes a weapon against the justice system itself. At that point, a Court may find that the right to legal counsel has been forfeited.
Frequently Asked Questions About Losing Your Right to a Lawyer in North Carolina
North Carolina courts have the authority to find that a defendant lost the right to counsel through his own conduct, and that outcome is separate from a knowing and voluntary decision to represent yourself. Forfeiture happens when the defendant’s behavior, including obstruction, deliberate delay, and repeated sabotage of appointed counsel, rises to a level that completely undermines what the right to counsel is designed to accomplish.
North Carolina courts have that authority when a defendant’s behavior meets the legal standard for forfeiture of the right to legal counsel. It does not happen often and courts are required to make findings supported by the record before reaching that conclusion. When the conduct is documented across years, multiple attorneys, and repeated warnings, however, the authority exists and courts have used it.
The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees every person facing criminal charges the right to the assistance of counsel, and the North Carolina Constitution independently protects that same right under Article I. North Carolina courts treat this right as fundamental, meaning courts apply a high level of scrutiny before allowing it to be limited or taken away. That protection is real and it is broad, but it is not unconditional. A defendant who repeatedly obstructs the attorney-client relationship, fires appointed counsel without legitimate cause, or uses the right to counsel as a tool to prevent a case from ever reaching trial can lose that protection entirely.
A defendant has the right to seek new counsel when a genuine breakdown in the professional relationship occurs. Courts become skeptical when that breakdown happens repeatedly, particularly on days the case is scheduled for trial. A single conflict with one attorney rarely reaches the forfeiture threshold. A pattern across multiple attorneys over several years with conflicts materializing at trial dates is a different situation entirely. Can you forfeit your right to a lawyer in North Carolina?
Do you have a right to a lawyer in North Carolina?
What is the difference between firing your lawyer and forfeiting your right to counsel?
A conviction after a trial in which the defendant represents themselves carries the same legal weight as any other conviction, and the court applies the same sentencing structure it would if a lawyer had been present. The defendant faces the same punishment range, the same prior record level calculation, and the same collateral consequences. Both misdemeanor and felony trials involve rules of evidence, constitutional protections, and courtroom procedures that defense lawyers spend years learning. A defendant without that knowledge is at a serious disadvantage from the moment the trial begins through the return of a verdict. The stakes are high, and the process can be complicated, which is one reason North Carolina courts treat the right to counsel as fundamental. What happens if you represent yourself at trial and get convicted?
Right to Legal Counsel | Criminal Charges in North Carolina
The right to counsel is a constitutional protection generally available to defendants facing criminal charges in North Carolina. That protection has limits. When a defendant’s conduct destroys the attorney-client relationship across multiple attorneys, over multiple years, and despite multiple explicit warnings, courts have the authority to find that the right no longer applies.
North Carolina criminal defense attorney Bill Powers at the Powers Law Firm is a recipient of the John B. McMillian Distinguished Service Award and has helped clients facing charges in North Carolina for more than 30 years. He can be reached at 704-342-4357