Usually, yes, but the rule depends on how your current lawyer got the case. If you hired and are paying your own lawyer, you can generally discharge that lawyer, and a court can refuse a timely request only if the switch would cause you significant prejudice or unreasonably disrupt the case. If the court appointed your lawyer because you could not afford one, replacing that lawyer with a different appointed lawyer requires showing the court a real problem with the representation, not just a preference. The same rules apply in any California criminal case, not only DUI.
If you hired and are paying your own lawyer
The right to discharge a lawyer you hired, with or without cause, has long been recognized in California, but the California Supreme Court has made clear it is not absolute. A judge may deny the request if the switch would cause “significant prejudice” to you, or if it is untimely, meaning it would cause a “disruption of the orderly processes of justice unreasonable under the circumstances of the particular case” (People v. Ortiz (1990) 51 Cal.3d 975). In Ortiz, a request made well before any retrial was timely. The earlier you raise it, the less room there is to call it disruptive.
The same case extends this rule to a defendant who can no longer afford the lawyer they hired. If you discharge your retained lawyer and make a timely request for a public defender or other appointed lawyer, you do not have to prove your retained lawyer was incompetent, and the court may not weigh the fact that you will need appointed counsel. You do not get to choose which lawyer is appointed, though, and if the court appoints the lawyer you discharged, you can ask for a hearing to explain why that appointment would impair your right to counsel (People v. Ortiz).
If the court already appointed your lawyer
Switching from one appointed lawyer to a different appointed lawyer is a narrower request, often called a Marsden motion. You have no absolute right to more than one appointed lawyer, but the judge must let you explain your reasons, and may not deny the request based only on the judge’s own courtroom observations when you offer specific examples (People v. Marsden (1970) 2 Cal.3d 118). Marsden notes that the inquiry usually turns on matters such as a defense that was never presented, too little consultation, or inadequate investigation of the facts and the law. A new lawyer is appointed only on a showing that keeping the current one would substantially impair your right to counsel, for example because the lawyer is not adequately representing you or because the two of you are in an irreconcilable conflict (People v. Ortiz, describing the Marsden standard). Come prepared to describe specific problems rather than general dissatisfaction, since the judge can only rule on what you put on the record.
What your outgoing lawyer owes you
Whichever path applies, your former lawyer has obligations under the State Bar’s Rule 1.16. When the representation ends, the lawyer must promptly release your file and property at your request, subject to any protective order, nondisclosure agreement, statute, or regulation that limits what can be handed over; the rule’s comments note that some Penal Code sections restrict what a criminal defense lawyer may release. The lawyer must also promptly refund any part of a fee or expense you paid in advance that has not been earned or incurred. That refund duty does not apply to a true retainer paid only to secure the lawyer’s availability for the matter. If the court’s rules require its permission for a lawyer to leave a case, the lawyer cannot withdraw without it, and before withdrawing must take reasonable steps to avoid foreseeable harm to you, such as giving you enough notice to hire someone else.
Timing is the factor you control
With a lawyer you hired, timing is the main factor within your control: raise the issue as soon as you decide, rather than waiting until trial is close. With an appointed lawyer, what matters most is the showing you can make, so list the specific problems for yourself before the hearing. Either way, ask your new lawyer to request the file from your outgoing lawyer so nothing is lost in the switch.
Changing lawyers does not by itself change the outcome of your DUI case. If you want to talk through how fighting the case might look with new counsel, call the Law Offices of David S. Chesley: (800) 755-5174.