State v. Hudson

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

STEIN, J.

The question in this appeal is whether the convictions of two defendants who knew the date, time, and place of their joint trial should be vacated because they left the courtroom before trial commenced. At issue is the application of Rule 3:16, which provides in relevant part:

The defendant shall be present at every stage of the trial including the impaneling of the jury and the return of the verdict, and at the imposition of sentence, unless otherwise provided by rule, but the defendant’s voluntary absence after trial has commenced in his…