People v. Tupper

Citations

• 122 Cal. 424
• 55 P. 125
• 1898 Cal. LEXIS 602

Syllabus

<p>Criminal Law—New Tbial—Absence oe Judge erom Courtroom.— A defendant convicted of a felony is entitled to a new trial where it appears, without conflict, that the judge absented himself from the courtroom for a period of twenty minutes during the argument of the case, and that during such absence he was out of sight and hearing of the proceedings going on in the courtroom.</p> <p>Id.—Judge a Component Part op Court—Process op Law.—The judge is a component part of the court, and there can be no court without him, and what was done in his absence was done in the absence of the court; and a defendant convicted under such circumstances has been deprived .of his liberty without due process of law.</p>