Opinion ID: 2161403
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Presence of Accused at View.

Text: At the request of one of the defendants, the jury was taken to the scene of the alleged crime for a view thereof. The record does not indicate whether the defendants were present at such time. The defendants now contend that there was a violation of their right under sec. 957.07, Stats., to be personally present during the trial of a felony. State v. Sasse (1888), 72 Wis. 3, 38 N. W. 343; Sasse v. State (1887), 68 Wis. 530, 32 N. W. 849. Assuming, without deciding, that an accused must be present at the jury's view of the scene of an alleged crime, we conclude that the record simply does not show that any flaw occurred in the case at bar. The record is silent as to whether the three accused were in attendance at the view. No objection was made, nor was the issue raised until the motions for new trials. We find no reason to assume that the record's silence reflects irregularity; there is no requirement that the record must affirmatively show an accused's attendance at a view of the scene of the crime. Because of our conclusion as to the state of the record, there is no need for our considering the question whether the accused can or did waive their right to be present.