When does jury empanelment begin for purposes of the due process right to be present?

QUESTIONS PRESENTED 1. Given that jury selection is one of the most critical phases of a criminal trial, how should courts determine when jury empanelment begins for a particular defendant’s case, triggering the due process right to be present? 2. Did the state court err when it held, without analysis of the underlying facts, that the trial court did not violate the petitioner’s due process rights when it excluded him and his counsel from proceedings in which members of the jury panel called for his trial—and who knew the case that they were summoned for—sought discretionary excusals from the court? ii