Lancaster v. State

ALMON, Justice.

We disagree with the holding of the Court of Criminal Appeals that the presence of the defendant at sentencing is a matter of subject matter jurisdiction. The statement in Neal v. State, 257 Ala. 496, 59 So.2d 797 (1952), that without “the continuous presence of the defendant from arraignment to sentence ... the court has no jurisdiction to pronounce judgment against him,” must be read in light of the fact that Neal was a capital murder case. The presence of the defendant is at most a matter of in person-am jurisdiction and the right to be present can be waived except in…