Opinion
MICHAEL E. MITCHELL, #240199 MITCHELL LAW GROUP, INC. Fresno, California Attorney for Defendant CHRISTOPHER CLINE.
WAIVER OF DEFENDANT'S PERSONAL PRESENCE; [PROPOSED] ORDER THEREON
MICHAEL J. SENG, Magistrate Judge.
TO THE ABOVE-ENTITLED COURT:
The Defendant CHRISTOPHER CLINE ("Mr. Cline") having been advised of his right to be present at all stages of proceedings, including, but not limited to, presentation of and arguments on questions of fact and law, and to be confronted by and to cross-examine all witnesses, hereby waives the right to be present at the hearing of any motion or other proceeding in this cause. Examples of hearings concerning which the defendant waives the right to be present include initial appearance, when the case is set for trial, when a continuance is ordered, during a plea or change of plea, during sentencing or any case disposition, when a motion for reduction of bail or for a personal recognizance release is heard.
The undersigned Defendant request the Court to proceed during every absence of the Defendant that the Court may permit pursuant to this waiver, and hereby agrees that his interest is represented at all times by the presence of his attorney the same as if the Defendant were personally present in court, and further agrees that notice to Defendant's attorney that Defendant's presence in court on a particular day at a particular time is required is notice to the Defendant of the requirement of Defendant's appearance at that time and place.
Mr. Cline is 33 years old and has no prior criminal record. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from Greensboro College.
Mr. Cline currently resides in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Burnaby is located immediately to the east of Vancouver and is approximately 1070 miles from Yosemite. He was on vacation at the Yosemite National Park when this incident occurred. He is unable to appear in person at the scheduled hearing on September 24, 2013 at 10:00 a.m., due to a number of reasons.
Mr. Cline would suffer a number of professional, personal and financial hardships if he had to return to Yosemite National Park for the arraignment in this matter.
He is currently employed at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia as an assistant head coach to the men's basketball team.
Mr. Cline's pre-season begins on September 10, 2013, and he is only one (1) of the two (2) full-time coaches available for the university.
Once Mr. Cline's pre-season begins his job duties include but are not limited to the following: individual work-outs; monitor academic progress; conducting practices; motivating student athletes; instructing in game strategies and techniques; attend staff development meetings and other professional activities to improve coaching performance for students.
He would have to miss at least six, possibly seven days of work with no pay. (Approximately two or three days for travel and to actually be there and one for weather delays).
The travel expenses he would have to incur would include; airport parking in BC, roundtrip airfare; SUV rental to travel into the national park, lodging and food which he cannot afford.
Mr. Cline requests a telephonic initial appearance and a waiver of personal appearance at all status conferences.
ORDER
GOOD CAUSE APPEARING, it is hereby ordered that Defendant's appearance in case number 6:13-mj-00080-MJS-1 may be waived until further order except (unless hereinafter ordered otherwise for good cause shown) for trial, entry of a guilty plea and sentencing.
IT IS SO ORDERED.