United States v. Boardman

          Chad A. Boardman, Defendant

          Michael E. Mitchell Attorney for Defendant

          WAIVER OF DEFENDANT’S PERSONAL PRESENCE AND REQUEST TO APPEAR VIA TELEPHONE; ORDER THEREON

          Michael J. Seng UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

         TO THE ABOVE-ENTITLED COURT:

         Mr. Boardman and his counsel, Michael E. Mitchell, have signed and returned the plea agreement whereby Mr. Boardman would be pleading guilty to a count of a violation of Title 36 CFR section 4.2(b), incorporating California Vehicle Code section 23103(a)- Driving recklessly upon a highway in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property. His plea and sentencing hearing is set for August 24, 2016 at 10:00 a.m.

         The Defendant Chad A. Boardman (“Mr. Boardman”) having been advised of his right to be present at all stages of proceedings, including, but not limited to, presentation of and arguments on questions of fact and law, and to be confronted by and to cross-examine all witnesses, hereby waives the right to be present at the hearing of any motion or other proceeding in this cause. Examples of hearings concerning which the defendant waives the right to be present include initial appearance, when the case is set for trial, when a continuance is ordered, during a plea or change of plea, during sentencing or any case disposition, when a motion for reduction of bail or for a personal recognizance release is heard.

         The undersigned Defendant requests the Court to proceed during every absence of the Defendant that the Court may permit pursuant to this waiver, and hereby agrees that his interest is represented at all times by the presence of his attorney the same as if the Defendant were personally present in court, and further agrees that notice to Defendant’s attorney that Defendant’s presence in court on a particular day at a particular time is required is notice to the Defendant of the requirement of Defendant’s appearance at that time and place.

         Mr. Boardman is 40 years old.

         Mr. Boardman currently resides in San Diego, California. San Diego, as I’m sure the court is aware, is located approximately 432 miles from Yosemite National Park (YNP). He was on vacation at YNP when this incident occurred. He is unable to appear in person at the scheduled hearing on February 23, 2016 at 9:00 a.m., due to a number of reasons.

         Mr. Boardman would suffer a number of professional, personal and financial hardships if he had to return to YNP for the arraignment in this matter.

         He is currently employed at Freight Aces. He is the owner of business, which has been in operation for 13 years.

         Mr. Boardman’s job duties include, but are not limited to, the following: handling all company expenses and job requests; driving to and back from the office on a daily basis; booking freight shipments; answering customer calls and emails; moving trucks around the yard and delivering loads.

         In order to attend court, he would have to miss at least three days of work for travel ...