Is anyone doing pleas in absentia in felony cases or doing zoom pleas from TDCJ? It is not something I have done but I have two defense attorneys now asking about it. It seems ideal in our current Covid world to not have to bench defendants back. Both Defendants are represented by counsel and have been provided discovery. Are there any other problems that I'm not thinking about? If anyone has the plea forms I would really appreciate a copy!

We haven’t gambled with a felony plea in absentia, but since almost all of our defendants are in TDCJ, we’ve figured out a pretty reliable system for pleading them out. It’s a lot of work, but it’s possible.

Happy to answer any questions about the TDCJ pleas that I can!

We've been doing pleas on WebEx, similar to Zoom, all during Covid and haven't had issues with it. Make sure that you have a signed waiver per CCP 27.18 for a videoconference plea.