California Plea In Absent is a legal procedure in the state of California in which a defendant enters a plea of guilt without being physically present in court. It is an alternative to the standard court process of appearing in person before a judge and pleading guilty or not guilty. There are two types of California Plea In Absent: a stipulated plea and a plea by declaration. A stipulated plea is a plea agreement between the defendant and the prosecution in which the defendant agrees to plead guilty to a lesser charge. The plea by declaration is a counseled plea that does not require the defendant to appear in court, but is still entered in the record as a plea of guilty. In either case, the court must ensure that the plea is voluntarily and intelligently entered by the defendant before accepting it. This usually requires the court to hold a hearing with the defendant or their attorney present to discuss the terms of the plea and to ensure that the defendant understands the ramifications of their plea.