Opinion
Criminal Case No. 07-cr-00275-WYD.
May 5, 2009
ORDER
THIS MATTER is before the Court on the Motion for Reconsideration of Court Order Requiring Defendants['] Presence at May 7, 2009 Motions Hearing [doc. #1178], filed May 4, 2009 by Defendants Beatriz Munoz-Carrillo and Cynthia Orosco. On April 29, 2009, I issued a Minute Order [doc. #1173] denying Defendants' motions to be excused from the continued motions hearing scheduled for May 7, 2009 [doc. ##1170, 1172].
Defendants now rely upon Rule 43 of the Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure, and I now agree that this rule justifies their absence from the continued motions hearing scheduled for May 7, 2009. Rule 43(a) requires a defendant's presence at the initial appearance, the initial arraignment, the plea, all trial stages, and sentencing. Rule 43(b) provides that a defendant need not be present for hearings on questions of law. Because the May 7, 2009 hearing will involve questions of law, and because Defendants' need to be present at their jobs justifies their absence from the hearing, I will now excuse them from the hearing. Accordingly, it is hereby
ORDERED that the Motion for Reconsideration of Court Order Requiring Defendants['] Presence at May 7, 2009 Motions Hearing [doc. #1178], filed May 4, 2009 by Defendants Beatriz Munoz-Carrillo and Cynthia Orosco, is GRANTED. Defendants Beatriz Munoz-Carrillo and Cynthia Orosco are excused from the continued motions hearing scheduled for May 7, 2009.