P.R. Laws Ap. tit. 34A, § II, Rule 58

2019-02-21 00:00:00+00
Rule 58. WARNING AS TO NAME OF DEFENDANT AND TRIAL IN ABSENTIA

(a) When defendant is arraigned, he shall be informed that if the name by which he is prosecuted in not his true name, he must then state his true name, otherwise he shall be prosecuted under the name appearing in the information. If the defendant gives no other name, the court shall proceed accordingly, but if he alleges that another name is his true name, the court shall direct entry thereof in the minutes of the arraignment, and the subsequent proceeding shall be had under said name, referring also to the name by which the prosecution was commenced.

(b) When the indictment is read, the court shall set a date for the trial and shall warn the defendant that, should he fail to appear, he may be tried in absentia, including the selection of the jury and all the other stages up to the verdict or judgment and the sentencing, and that his voluntary failure to appear shall be equivalent to the relinquishment of his right to be present during these stages of the proceeding.

History —June 23, 1974, No. 138, Part 1, p. 645, § 1; May 27, 1980, No. 70, p. 173, § 1.