The following excerpt is from U.S. v. Gagnon, 721 F.2d 672 (9th Cir. 1983):
The standard for determining whether a criminal defendant has waived a constitutional right is even more stringent than that provided by Rule 43(b), requiring "an intentional relinquishment or abandonment of a known right or privilege." Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 464, 58 S.Ct. 1019, 1023, 82 L.Ed. 1461 (1958). Since we are unable to conclude that defendants voluntarily absented themselves within the meaning of Rule 43(b), a fortiori we cannot conclude that they knowingly and intelligently waived their constitutional right to be present.
III. Harmless Error Rule
Although we have determined that defendants' constitutional and statutory
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