Opinion ID: 2599073
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Defendant's voluntary absence from courtroom during Isaac Stanley's testimony

Text: During the testimony of his brother, Isaac Stanley, in defendant's behalf at the penalty phase, defendant elected to voluntarily absent himself from the courtroom. He now claims the trial court erred in allowing him to absent himself from the courtroom, that the court had a sua sponte duty to give a cautionary admonition advising the jurors not to draw any adverse inferences from his departure, and that his absence from court on that occasion compromised the reliability of his death sentence. Defendant fails to state a claim for relief in this regard. We have in past cases rejected the argument that a defendant can never waive his or her presence during the taking of evidence at trial. ( People v. Mayfield (1997) 14 Cal.4th 668, 738, 60 Cal.Rptr.2d 1, 928 P.2d 485; People v. Jackson (1996) 13 Cal.4th 1164, 1209-1210, 56 Cal.Rptr.2d 49, 920 P.2d 1254.)