Opinion ID: 1587246
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Absence from pre-trial hearings.

Text: Criminal Rule 8.28(1) provides: The defendant shall be present at the arraignment, at every critical stage of the trial including the empaneling of the jury and the return of the verdict, and at the imposition of the sentence. In addition to their claims that they were not present at their closed-circuit television arraignments, an issue resolved by Commonwealth v. Ingram, supra, at 570-71, both appellants complain of their absence from a hearing held on January 27, 2000, eleven days before trial; and Caudill complains of her absence from a hearing held on February 4, 2000, three days before trial.
The trial judge offered to have both appellants brought up from the jail to attend the January 27, 2000, hearing. However, the attorneys for both appellants expressly waived their respective clients' presence at that hearing. Fugate v. Commonwealth, Ky., 62 S.W.3d 15, 18-19 (2001). Furthermore, nothing that occurred at that hearing could be characterized as a critical stage of the trial. Much of the hearing was consumed by the trial judge's review of juror requests for excusal or postponement of jury service for health or hardship reasons. While we applaud the trial judge for allowing counsel to participate in this process, such excusals and postponements are within the discretion of the trial judge, Admin. Proc., Part II, § 12(1), KRS 29A.100(1), who is not required to make those decisions in open court or in the presence of or consultation with any parties or their counsel. The trial judge is only required to record the reasons for the excusals or postponements on the juror qualification forms so they can be reviewed for abuse of discretion. Admin. Proc., Part II, § 12(2); KRS 29A.100(2); Sanborn v. Commonwealth, Ky., 754 S.W.2d 534, 548-49 (1988). Nothing else was discussed except scheduling problems related to Caudill's last-minute notice (exactly twenty days before the trial date of February 7, 2000) of her intention to introduce evidence of mental illness, KRS 504.070(1), the Commonwealth's failure to complete the Bruton -redaction of appellants' respective pretrial statements, and the number of peremptory strikes to be allotted to each side at trial. Thus, the January 27, 2000, hearing was not a critical stage of the trial and appellants' presence at that hearing had been validly waived by their respective counsel.
This hearing was held from 4:11 p.m. until 5:16 p.m. on the Friday before trial. Goforth was present. However, Caudill was absent because she was undergoing a mental health examination by the prosecutor's expert, Dr. Cooley. KRS 504.070(2). The matters resolved at the hearing on February 4, 2000, were (1) Caudill's motion in limine, filed on February 2, 2000, five days before trial, to suppress eight items of evidence (the prosecutor conceded six of the issues and the remaining two were resolved solely by legal argument); (2) Caudill's motion to suppress that portion of her March 15, 1998, statement that was made after she requested an attorney (the prosecutor conceded the issue); (3) whether Goforth's statement should be redacted to exclude his assertion that an unidentified African-American male had assisted Caudill in the commission of the crimes (the trial judge ruled, per Bruton, supra , that the reference should be redacted because it incriminated Caudill); (4) Goforth's motion to preclude the Commonwealth from introducing a videotape of Caudill's walk-through of the crime scene with police detectives (the prosecutor agreed not to introduce the videotape and whether Caudill could introduce it, herself, was not addressed); (5) Caudill's motion for a separate trial, which had been filed on the morning of the hearing (the motion was overruled on the basis of RCr 6.20 and Ware v. Commonwealth, supra ); and (6) whether, since the offenses were committed prior to July 15, 1998, the jury should be instructed on the penalty of life without parole in the event of a conviction of murder. See Commonwealth v. Phon, Ky., 17 S.W.3d 106, 108 (2000). Resolution of that issue was postponed until trial. Thus, no evidentiary hearing was held and all of the issues addressed were resolved by legal argument. A defendant is not required to be present during the argument of legal issues between court and counsel. Tamme v. Commonwealth, Ky., 973 S.W.2d 13, 38 (1998); Thomas v. Commonwealth, Ky., 437 S.W.2d 512, 515 (1968); Harris v. Commonwealth, Ky., 285 S.W.2d 489, 491 (1955). A defendant's absence means little when, as in the present case, the trial court's communication merely involves a question of law rather than fact. In such a case, a defendant's presence can be of no help to the defense. United States v. Dockter, 58 F.3d 1284, 1287 (8th Cir.1995).