MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1999 Regular Session

To: Judiciary B

By: Representative Bourdeaux

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 99-17-9, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT A DEFENDANT MAY BE TRIED IN ABSENTIA WHO RECEIVED A NOTICE AND FAILED TO APPEAR AT THE APPOINTED TIME; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 99-17-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

99-17-9. In criminal cases a defendant may waive the right to be present at any proceeding by voluntarily absenting himself or herself from it. The court may infer that an absence is voluntary if the defendant had personal notice of the time of the proceeding, the right to be present at it, and a warning that the proceeding would go forward in his or her absence should he or she fail to appear.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 1999.