US SUPREME COURT DECISIONS

Petitioner effectively waived his right to be present at his criminal trial by voluntarily absenting himself therefrom through failure to return to the courtroom after the morning session of the first day of trial, and the Court of Appeals properly applied Fed.Rule Crim.Proc. 43 and affirmed the conviction, it being unnecessary to show that petitioner knew or had been expressly warned by the trial court not only that he had a right to be present, but also that the trial would continue in his absence, and thereby effectively foreclose his right to testify and to confront personally the witnesses against him. Diaz v. United States, 223 U. S. 442.

Certiorari granted; 478 F.2d 689, affirmed.