California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Ramirez, F076126 (Cal. App. 2020):
Since conducting a trial in the defendant's absence has extremely serious implications, the applicable caselaw appropriately urges trial courts to proceed with extreme caution before concluding the defendant is voluntarily absent. (See, e.g., United States v. Benavides (1979) 596 F.2d 137 (Benavides) ["the right to be present at one's own trial must be carefully safeguarded"]; Lewis, supra, 144 Cal.App.3d at p. 279 [noting "the grave danger" of conducting trial without a defendant's presence].) The caselaw
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