Cite as: 506 U. S. 255 (1993)
Opinion of the Court
fendant shall be present . . . at every stage of the trial . . . except as otherwise provided by this rule" (emphasis added). The list of situations in which the trial may proceed without the defendant is marked as exclusive not by the "expression of one" circumstance, but rather by the express use of a limiting phrase. In that respect the language and structure of the Rule could not be more clear.
The Government, however, urges us to look for guidance at the existing law, which the Rule was meant to restate, at the time of its adoption in 1944. See Advisory Committee's Notes on Fed. Rule Crim. Proc. 43, 18 U. S. C. App., p. 821. That inquiry does not assist the Government. "It is well settled that . . . at common law the personal presence of the defendant is essential to a valid trial and conviction on a charge of felony. . . . If he is absent, . . . a conviction will be set aside." W. Mikell, Clark's Criminal Procedure 492 (2d ed. 1918) (hereinafter Mikell). Accord, Goldin, Presence of the Defendant at Rendition of the Verdict in Felony Cases, 16 Colum. L. Rev. 18, 20 (1916); F. Wharton, Criminal Pleading and Practice 388 (9th ed. 1889) (hereinafter Wharton); 1 J. Bishop, New Criminal Procedure 178-179 (4th ed. 1895) (hereinafter Bishop), and cases cited there. The right generally was considered unwaivable in felony cases. Mikell 492; 1 Bishop 175 and 178. This canon was premised on the notion that a fair trial could take place only if the jurors met the defendant face-to-face and only if those testifying against the defendant did so in his presence. See Wharton 392; 1 Bishop 178. It was thought "contrary to the dictates of humanity to let a prisoner 'waive that advantage which a view of his sad plight might give him by inclining the hearts of the jurors to listen to his defence with indulgence.' " Ibid., quoting Prine v. Commonwealth, 18 Pa. 103, 104 (1851).
In Diaz v. United States, 223 U. S. 442 (1912), a case that concerned a defendant who had absented himself voluntarily on two occasions from his ongoing trial in the Philippines, this Court authorized a limited exception to the general rule,
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