Rule 16. Presence of Accused at Trial

• Library: South Carolina Rules Annotated (SCBar) (2021 Ed.)

RULE 16. PRESENCE OF ACCUSED AT TRIAL

Except in cases wherein capital punishment is a permissible sentence, a person indicted for misdemeanors and/or felonies may voluntarily waive his right to be present and may be tried in his absence upon a finding by the court that such person has received notice of his right to be present and that a warning was given that the trial would proceed in his absence upon a failure to attend the court.

Note:

Rule 16 is the language of Criminal Practice Rule 3.

Annotations Rule 16

16

Constitutional Right

The right to testify on one's own behalf at a criminal trial is guaranteed by the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments. Rock v. Arkansas, 483 U.S. 44, 51 -52, 107 S.Ct. 2704, 97 L.Ed.2d 37 (1987). "It is one of the rights that 'are essential to due process of law in a fair adversary process.'" Id. at 51, 107 S.Ct. 2704 (quoting Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 819, n. 15, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975)). "However, the right to present testimony is not without limitation." State v. Rivera, 402 S.C. 225, 242, 741 S.E.2d 694, 703 (2013). "The right may, in appropriate cases, bow to accommodate other legitimate interests in the criminal trial process. But restrictions of a defendant's right to testify may not be arbitrary or disproportionate to the purposes they are designed to serve." Id. (internal quotation marks and citations...