An Anne Arundel County judge acted properly when he refused to postpone the carjacking trial of a man who repeatedly waived his right to counsel, then asked for a lawyer on the trial's opening day, the state's highest court has ruled.

Carl Eugene Jones Jr., who was sentenced to 30 years in prison for commandeering a vehicle carrying two toddlers and leading police on a high-speed chase, argued that Judge Paul G. Goetzke showed "an abuse of discretion" by refusing to consider his request for a lawyer after he had also asked for a delay to spend more time reviewing evidence in the case.

In its 40-page decision released yesterday, the Court of Appeals questioned Jones' "late-blooming desire for an attorney."

"The record indicates that Jones had many opportunities to secure counsel prior to the day of trial, but knowingly waived those opportunities despite the solicitous suggestions by various judges that he would be better off with legal representation," the decision concluded.

Jones, 35, of Chesapeake Beach was also sentenced in Montgomery County to 40 years in prison for leading police through five counties at speeds of up to 130 mph during the July 15, 2003, chase.

It began in West Baltimore when police said they saw him at the wheel of a stolen Infiniti. Jones abandoned that car in Montgomery Court after it ran out of gas, flagged down a woman and yanked her from her Mercedes sport utility vehicle and drove off, despite her pleas that Jones not take her children, who were in the back seat.

The chase ended when Jones, high on PCP and crack cocaine, rammed a police cruiser on U.S. 50 in Anne Arundel County.