On the morning after jury selection, defendant failed to appear, and the trial court was informed that emergency medical personnel and police had been dispatched to defendant’s home after his mother reported that he had possibly overdosed on heroin. The trial court was also informed that defendant had initially declined medical treatment before deciding to go to the hospital with his mother. In a 5-2 decision, the Supreme Court finds substantial evidence to support the trial court’s finding that defendant voluntarily absented himself from trial under PC 1043(b)(2). Justices Liu and Kruger dissent.
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