When will a court determine whether a defendant waived his right to be present at trial?

The trial court erred by concluding defendant's absence was voluntary. It was undisputed defendant had serious, preexisting, chronic medical issues and that he was at a hospital emergency room for the purpose of receiving medical care related to those issues on both of the days he failed to appear at trial. Although the court thought the timing of defendant's emergency room visits highly suspicious, the timing may have indicated a stress-induced emergency, as opposed to malingering or a self-induced condition that could be deemed a voluntary absence (People v. Rogers (1957) 150 Cal.App.2d 403, 413 [where record reflected self-inflicted insulin shock and refusal to take ameliorative steps, defendant deemed to have waived right to be present].) No evidence suggested defendant's emergency room visits were based upon either a feigned or self-induced condition.

Page 12