Penal Code § 977 allows your attorney to appear in court on your behalf in your misdemeanor case. The benefits of waiving your presence and appearing “by counsel only” are:
- not having to pay travel expenses if you live out of state,
- not having to take time off of work to go to court, and
- reduced anxiety levels by having your lawyer handle the matter.
However, you do have to be present in certain misdemeanor cases involving:
In felony cases, Penal Code 977 requires you to be personally present throughout the criminal court process whether or not you have an attorney.
If you or your attorney fails to appear in court when required, you face charges for failure to appear in violation of Penal Code 1320 and 1320.5. Even failing to appear on a traffic infraction ticket is a crime under Vehicle Code 40508 VC.
Our California criminal defense attorneys will highlight the following in this article:
- 1. Can an attorney appear in court on the client’s behalf?
- 2. Are there exceptions to the 977 PC rule?
- 3. Can a defendant waive their presence for felonies?
- 4. Can a party appear in court via video?
- 5. What if neither the defendant nor the attorney appear in court?
- 6. What is failure to appear under California Vehicle Code 40508?
- Additional resources
1. Can an attorney appear in court on the client’s behalf?
Penal Code 977 is the California statute that allows a defendant to “waive” their appearance in court for most misdemeanor proceedings.1 This even includes their appearance at the arraignment, or the first formal proceeding in a criminal case.
“Waiver” means a defendant:
- gives up their right to personally appear in court, and
- has their criminal defense lawyer appear on their behalf.2
The benefits of a defendant waiving their presence include:
- they do not have to pay travel expenses if they live out of state,
- they do not have to take time off of work to go to court, and
- they can reduce anxiety levels by having their lawyer handle things.
2. Are there exceptions to the 977 PC rule?
There are two main exceptions to the general rule in PC 977 that allows for the waiver of presence.
The first is that a party cannot waive their presence in certain domestic violence cases (including violating a protective order (PC 136.2) and corporal injury to a spouse (PC 273.5). During these matters, an accused must be present for:
- arraignment,
- sentencing, and
- when ordered by the court for purposes of being informed of a protective order.3
The second exception is that a court can require a defendant’s presence for certain driving under the influence offenses.4 These “certain” offenses include:
- gross vehicular manslaughter, in violation of PC 191.5,
- DUI, in violation of VC 23152, and
- DUI causing injury, in violation of VC 23153.5
In these cases, the court has the discretion to require the defendant to be present:
- for arraignment,
- at the time of entering a plea, or
- at sentencing.6
3. Can a defendant waive their presence for felonies?
Penal Code 977(b) says that an accused must be personally present for most felony court proceedings. These proceedings include:
- arraignment,
- at the time of entering a plea,
- during the preliminary hearing,
- during those portions of the trial when evidence is taken, and
- at the time of sentencing.7
There are some exceptions though. A judge may allow a waiver of a defendant’s presence in a felony case if:
- they are allowed to appear via video, or
- the accused executes a written waiver (and the judge agrees to it).8
4. Can a party appear in court via video?
If the defendant agrees to it, they may appear by video at the following stages of a case:
- the initial court appearance,
- arraignment, and
- entering of a plea.9
This rule applies to both misdemeanor and felony cases. This practice became widespread during the COVID-19 pandemic.
5. What if neither the defendant nor the attorney appear in court?
A defendant could be charged with the crime of failure to appear, per Penal Code 1320 and 1320.5, if they (or their attorney) do not appear in court when required to do so.10
California Penal Code 1320 sets out the crime of “failing to appear” for defendants who are released on their own recognizance. Penal Code 1320.5 describes “failure to appear” for California defendants who are released on bail.
The penalties for failure to appear in California depend on the type of crime a defendant was initially charged with or convicted of.
If an accused was charged with or convicted of a misdemeanor and released on their own recognizance, then failure to appear is a misdemeanor.11 The penalties include:
- up to six months in county jail, and/or
- a fine of up to $1,000.12
Though if an accused was charged with or convicted of a felony, then failure to appear will be a felony under California law.13
If charged as a felony, the crime is punishable by:
- a county jail sentence of up to one year, or sixteen months or two or three years in state prison, and/or
- a fine of up to $5,000 if the defendant was released on their own recognizance, or $10,000 if they were released on bail.14
6. What is failure to appear under California Vehicle Code 40508?
When a driver is issued a traffic ticket in California, the officer will have them sign a written promise to appear in court. If they willfully fail to appear as promised, they violate Vehicle Code 40508 VC.15
Violation of VC 40508 is a misdemeanor. The penalties are:
- up to six months in county jail, and/or
- a fine of up to $1,000.16
Additional resources
For more in-depth information, refer to the following:
- Systemic Failure To Appear in Court – University of Pennsylvania Law Review.
- Behavioral nudges reduce failure to appear for court – Science.
- Reducing courts’ failure-to-appear rate by written reminders – Psychology, Public Policy, and Law.
- An Experiment in the Law: Studying a Technique to Reduce Failure to Appear in Court – Court Review.
- An Exploratory Assessment of Race and Gender-Specific Predictors of Failure to Appear in Court Among Defendants Released via a Pretrial Services Agency – Criminal Justice Review.
Legal References:
- California Penal Code 977(a)(2) PC.
- See same.
- California Penal Code 977(a)(2) PC.
- California Penal Code 977(a)(3) PC.
- See same.
- See same.
- California Penal Code 977(b) PC.
- See same.
- California Penal Code 977(a) and (c) PC.
- California Penal Code 1320 PC.
- California Penal Code 1320 PC.
- California Penal Code 19 PC.
- California Penal Code 1320 PC.
- See same. See also Penal Code 1320.5 PC.
- California Vehicle Code 40508 VC.
- California Penal Code 19 PC. Except in cases where a different punishment is prescribed by any law of this state, every offense declared to be a misdemeanor is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both.