bob wrote: ↑Thu Jan 11, 2024 8:37 pm
AndyinPA wrote: ↑Thu Jan 11, 2024 8:34 pm
Is attending a criminal trial optional? I would have thought, not.
It can be. A judge may order (or waive) a defendant's appearance, depending on the circumstances.
Defendants in criminal trials are always warned at the time of arraignment that their failure to appear in subsequent sessions constitutes a waiver of whatever constitutional rights append to their presence at those sessions - most notably the 5th Amendment due process right to be present at all stages of the proceeding and the 6th Amendment right to confront one’s accuser. Their failure to appear isn’t going to delay anything, and the trial will proceed without them.
Most criminal defendants know it is in their own interest to show up. Some obviously have no choice - those in custody, for example.
I had an appellate client once who got convicted of rape on the thinnest of evidence and completely flipped out and absconded for the sentencing phase, which went on without him. I think the jury bent over backwards not to hold his absconding against him (and iirc the judge instructed them that were recommending a sentence for the crime he was actually convicted of, not the unauthorized absence). I think the guy came back while the jury was deliberating.
Having a client fail to appear is a defense lawyer’s worst nightmare. The judge is going to blame the lawyer for failing to adequately communicate to the client the importance of his presence.
"Hey! We left this England place because it was bogus, and if we don't get some cool rules ourselves, pronto, we'll just be bogus too!" -- Thomas Jefferson