WORKMAN, Chief Justice:

The defendant below and Appellant herein, Lorie Ann McGuire (hereinafter Appellant), appeals the January 3, 1996, order of the Circuit Court of Marshall County which vacated its prior sentencing order and sentenced Appellant to ten years imprisonment for Appellant's conviction by jury of voluntary manslaughter of her newborn daughter. On appeal, Appellant argues the trial court committed a number of instructional errors. Appellant also asserts that she was denied the right to be present at a critical stage of the proceedings, was prohibited from offering certain psychiatric testimony, and was wrongfully denied credit for the time she served on home confinement while released on pretrial bail. After review of the errors alleged by Appellant, we affirm her conviction and the final order of the trial court.

I. FACTS

At the time of the tragic events of this case, Appellant was a twenty-one-year old college student attending West Virginia Northern Community College. Both Appellant and her fourteen-month-old daughter lived with Appellant's parents in Marshall County. On Wednesday, February 8, 1995, at approximately 3:00 or 3:30 a.m., Appellant gave birth to a baby girl in Appellant's bedroom located on the first floor of her parent's house. Up until this time, Appellant never told her parents that she was pregnant, and, although Appellant's mother was asleep in a bedroom on the second floor, Appellant never alerted her mother to the fact she was giving birth.

At trial, Appellant testified she believed the baby was stillborn. Allegedly acting upon this belief, Appellant wrapped the baby in a towel, took the baby to the basement, and placed the baby in an operating woodstove to dispose of the baby's body. Appellant then went back upstairs and took a bath. After bathing, Appellant apparently decided it would be better to bury the baby's body. Therefore, she went back to the basement, retrieved the baby's severely burnt body from the woodstove, and wrapped the body in a plastic garbage bag. Appellant then placed the baby in the trunk of her car because the ground was frozen and she could not dig a hole until the ground thawed. The next morning, Appellant went to her college classes as if nothing happened. Appellant consistently has maintained the baby was dead at birth and described the baby as not moving and being blue in appearance.

According to the testimony of Appellant's "best friend," Jodi Mangino, Appellant stopped by her house later that day, and told Ms. Mangino that she had something to show her. Ms. Mangino testified that Appellant appeared happy and lifted up the front of her shirt to reveal she was no longer pregnant. According to Ms. Mangino, Appellant explained she gave birth about 3:30 a.m. and, afterwards, turned over her mattress, sat in the tub for an hour, and was able to attend school that day. Appellant also told Ms. Mangino she continued to have contractions while at school, causing her to grip her desk so hard that "her hands were turning white. . . ." Ms. Mangino did not ask Appellant about the baby, apparently because Appellant told her that she did not want to know anything else.

The next evening, Ms. Mangino and Appellant spoke over the phone, and Ms. Mangino encouraged Appellant to go see a doctor. Again, there was no discussion about the status of the baby, but Ms. Mangino testified Appellant showed no signs of crying, sadness, sorrow, or regret during either of their conversations. Thereafter, Ms. Mangino placed an anonymous phone call to the sheriff's department and explained to an officer that a friend of hers had given birth and she believed "something bad might have happened." Ms. Mangino refused to give the officer either her name or Appellant's name so the officer requested her to call back the next day and speak with a detective.

After classes the next day, Ms. Mangino called the police and spoke with Dan Livingston, an investigator with the Marshall County Sheriff's Department. During the conversation, Ms. Mangino told Officer Livingston both her name and Appellant's name, and she, along with two other women who knew Appellant, met with Officer Livingston later in the evening. According to Ms. Mangino, Officer Livingston said he needed to speak with some other people because the allegations were based only on her report. Therefore, Ms. Mangino decided to call Appellant the next day and tape record their conversation.

Ms. Mangino testified that during this conversation, Appellant stated she did not go to the doctor, but she told her mother that she was two months pregnant and suffered a miscarriage. Ms. Mangino asked Appellant if the baby was dead and Appellant responded yes. Ms. Mangino then asked Appellant what she did with the baby, and Appellant said she put the baby in the trunk of her car and was going to wait until the ground thawed to bury the baby. Appellant also told Ms. Mangino that she thought about throwing the baby over a hill in a trash bag, but she feared the dogs might bring it back, and she considered putting the baby in a dumpster, but she decided against it as well. During the conversation, Appellant never mentioned that she already had burned the baby's body in the woodstove. Ms. Mangino took the tape recording of the conversation to Officer Livingston.

Thereafter, Officer Livingston and two other police officers went to the McGuire residence to conduct an investigation. When they arrived, Appellant was not there, but Officer Livingston explained the circumstances to her mother. Appellant's mother gave him permission to search the house.

Apparently before the search could begin, Appellant arrived home. Officer Livingston read Appellant her rights while another officer went with Appellant's mother to conduct the search. At first, Appellant denied the pregnancy, but when her mother returned crying after discovering Appellant's bloodstained mattress, Appellant said she had a miscarriage. The officers eventually discovered the baby's frozen and burnt body in the trunk of Appellant's car, wrapped in the towel and the garbage bag.

The baby's body was taken to Wheeling Medical Center for an autopsy. After authorities learned from the autopsy that the baby was born alive, Appellant was arrested and charged with murder. In defense of the murder charge, Appellant argued at trial she was not guilty by reason of insanity, she was not guilty of any offense greater than involuntary manslaughter because she believed the baby was dead when she placed her in the woodstove, or she was not guilty because the baby was, in fact, dead at birth. After hearing the evidence, the jury convicted Appellant of voluntary manslaughter.

II. JURY INSTRUCTIONS A. Standard of Review

Appellant asserts the trial court erred by denying five jury instructions submitted by defense counsel. When called upon to review a trial court's rejection or acceptance of a specific jury instruction, this Court generally applies an abuse of discretion standard. State v. Guthrie, 194 W. Va. 657, 671 n. 12, 461 S.E.2d 163, 177 n. 12 (1995); State v. Derr, 192 W. Va. 165, 179, 451 S.E.2d 731, 745 (1994). Likewise, we provide broad discretion to a trial court's formulation of the wording of jury instructions. Syl. Pt. 6, in part, Tennant v. Marion Health Care Found., Inc., 194 W. Va. 97, 459 S.E.2d 374 (1995); Derr, 192 W. Va. at 179, 451 S.E.2d at 745. Our review of the legal correctness of a jury instruction, however, is performed de novo, and, when a jury instruction is rejected because of insufficient evidence, our review is plenary. State v. LaRock, 196 W. Va. 294, 308, 470 S.E.2d 613, 627 (1996).

As we summarized in syllabus point fifteen of State v. Bradshaw, 193 W. Va. 519, 457 S.E.2d 456 (1995):

Jury instructions are reviewed by determining whether the charge, reviewed as a whole, sufficiently instructed the jury so they understood the issues involved and were not misled by the law. A jury instruction cannot be dissected on appeal; instead, the entire instruction is looked at when determining its accuracy. The trial court, therefore, has broad discretion in formulating its charge to the jury, so long as it accurately reflects the law. Deference is given to the circuit court's discretion concerning the specific wording of the instruction, and the precise extent and character of any specific instruction will be reviewed for an abuse of discretion.

Id. Moreover, a trial court does not commit reversible error by refusing to give an instruction adequately covered by another instruction given to the jury. Syl. Pt. 20, State v. Hamric, 151 W. Va. 1, 151 S.E.2d 252 (1966). However, "[i]t is error to give instructions to the jury, even though they state correct propositions of law, when there is no evidence to support some of the hypotheses which they contain." Syl. Pt. 7, State v. Morris, 142 W. Va. 303, 95 S.E.2d 401 (1956). Based upon these principles, we begin our analysis of the instructional errors alleged by Appellant.

B. The Issue of Live Birth

Appellant first argues the trial court erred by rejecting her proposed instruction number eleven. Initially, this instruction generally informs the jury that the State must establish beyond a reasonable doubt (1) there was a death of a human being and (2) the death occurred as a result of "a criminal act rather than by natural causes or by accident." The next part of the instruction advises the jury that, in order to establish the death of a human being, the State must prove a live birth. The remainder of the instruction contains Appellant's proposed definition of what factors are necessary for the State to prove the baby was born alive. Appellee objected to the instruction on grounds there was no evidence presented that the baby died of natural causes or by accident. After reviewing the instruction, the trial court sustained the objection and refused to give the instruction.

On appeal, Appellant asserts the issue of whether the baby was born alive was a contested issue at trial and the failure of the trial court to give any instruction in this respect constitutes reversible error. In support of her position, Appellant highlights the testimony given by Howard Gordon, M.D., a board certified physician in obstetrics, gynecology, and maternal and fetal medicine, who testified as an expert on Appellant's behalf. When asked by Appellant's counsel to describe the characteristics of a stillborn baby, Dr. Gordon stated "a recent stillborn or a very depressed baby would be blotchy, pale and blue, a lighter color blue than a healthy newborn, and it would be what we call `flaccid' which means limp like a rag doll . . . but the most noticeable thing would be the lack of movement and the pale blue blotchiness to the color of the baby." Dr. Gordon also testified that women who do not receive prenatal care are more likely to have stillborn babies.

Appellant contends Dr. Gordon's description of a stillborn or very depressed baby comports with her own testimony that she believed the baby was dead at birth. Appellant described the baby as limp, not moving, and blue in appearance after delivery. However, on cross-examination, Dr. Gordon admitted he did not examine the baby, he did not review any of the autopsy reports performed on the baby, and he did not review any of Appellant's medical records. In fact, Dr. Gordon stated he did not review any documents with respect to this particular baby's death, and he had no opinion as to the cause of death.

On the other hand, the uncontroverted medical evidence from two separate autopsy reports shows the baby was definitely alive at birth. The first autopsy, performed by Jess S. Renedo, M.D., a forensic pathologist and the Medical Examiner for the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia, revealed either a full-term or close to full-term baby girl who suffered fourth degree burning over almost her entire body. In the report, Dr. Renedo also stated an "[e]xamination of the lungs show, without any question, that the baby was alive at birth." (Emphasis added). At trial, Dr. Renedo testified the baby also had a skull fracture measuring two and one-half inches in diameter, but he could not determine whether the skull fracture occurred before or after death due to the extreme burning of the area.

As Dr. Renedo was unable to conclude whether the baby died from the skull fracture or from burning, the baby's body was exhumed less than one and one-half months later for an additional autopsy. The second autopsy was performed by James L. Frost, M.D., a forensic pathologist and a Deputy Chief Medical Examiner for the State of West Virginia. In addition to examining the baby's lung tissue and the skull fracture, Dr. Frost also performed toxicology studies on the baby's liver. The toxicology studies showed the baby's liver had a sixty percent carbon monoxide saturation level, which, according to Dr. Frost's estimates, meant the baby remained alive while inside the woodstove for five to fifteen minutes. Dr. Frost also testified there were no indications from his autopsy the baby suffered from in utero distress. As a result of his findings, Dr. Frost opined the baby died of "thermal burning and acute carbon monoxide intoxication."

In light of this evidence, we find the trial court did not err by refusing to give Appellant's proposed instruction number eleven. The conclusive evidence presented at trial demonstrated the baby was alive when she was placed in the woodstove and was able to survive therein for five to fifteen minutes before her new life was hellishly overcome by the smoke and flames. The testimony presented by Dr. Gordon did not refute the cause of death in any way, and Dr. Gordon admitted he reviewed no medical files, conducted no medical tests, and had no opinion as to this baby's cause of death. "As a general proposition a defendant is entitled to an instruction as to any recognized defense for which there exists evidence sufficient for a reasonable jury to find in his favor." Mathews v. United States, 485 U.S. 58, 63, 108 S.Ct. 883, 887, 99 L.Ed.2d 54, 61 (1988) (citations omitted). However, a trial court is not required to instruct the jury on an abstract or general defense theory that is not supported by evidence. LaRock, 196 W. Va. at 308, 470 S.E.2d at 627 (citations omitted). As the medical evidence definitively established the baby was alive after delivery, we conclude a reasonable juror could not find the baby was born dead. At best, the evidence presented by Appellant relates to whether Appellant knew the baby was alive when she placed her in the woodstove, not to whether the baby actually was alive. Thus, we find the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it rejected Appellant's proposed instruction on what shall constitute a live birth as there was insufficient evidence for the jury to consider the issue.

C. Involuntary Manslaughter

Appellant next argues the trial court erred by refusing to give her proposed instruction numbers twenty-three and twenty-five, regarding involuntary manslaughter. Appellee asserts the substance of the instructions was covered in Appellee's instruction number one-A read to the jury and, therefore, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in rejecting the two instructions proposed by Appellant. On the other hand, Appellant argues Appellee's instruction number one-A is confusing and incorrectly states the law of involuntary manslaughter. Upon review, we find the trial court did not abuse its discretion either by accepting Appellee's instruction number one-A or by rejecting Appellant's instruction numbers twenty-three and twenty-five.

We begin our analysis by determining whether instruction number one-A properly informs the jury of the elements of involuntary manslaughter. The underlying purpose of this lengthy instruction, inter alia, was to advise the jury as to the elements of first and second degree murder and voluntary and involuntary manslaughter. The relevant portion of the instruction starts by setting forth the essential elements of first degree murder. Then, instead of affirmatively stating the elements of second degree murder and voluntary and involuntary manslaughter, the instruction provides that the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt the essential elements of first degree murder except for those elements of first degree murder which the trial court declared were unnecessary to establish second degree murder and voluntary and involuntary manslaughter. For instance, with respect to involuntary manslaughter, the instruction states: "In order to convict the defendant of the offense of involuntary manslaughter you must find from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt each of the above stated essential elements [for first degree murder] except that the killing was unlawful but not feloniously, deliberate, premeditated, maliciously, or that it was intentional." Appellee concedes the syntax of the instruction is unartful, but Appellee maintains it does accurately and adequately covers the essential elements of the crime.

In syllabus point seven of State v. Barker, 128 W. Va. 744, 38 S.E.2d 346 (1946), we held "[t]he offense of involuntary manslaughter is committed when a person, while engaged in an unlawful act, unintentionally causes the death of another, or where a person engaged in a lawful act, unlawfully causes the death of another." Id.; State v. Hughes, 197 W. Va. 518, 523, 476 S.E.2d 189, 194 (1996); State v. Hose, 187 W. Va. 429, 432, 419 S.E.2d 690, 693 (1992). While taking a backwards approach to describing the elements of involuntary manslaughter, we find the instruction sufficiently informed the jury that Appellant was guilty of involuntary manslaughter if the jury found she unlawfully, yet unintentionally, caused her newborn's death. As specifically indicated by the instruction, involuntary manslaughter does not require the death to be caused by an intentional, felonious, deliberate, premeditated, or malicious act. Although a better approach would be for the trial court to affirmatively state the elements of each crime, we determine the trial court did not abuse its discretion by accepting the way Appellee worded the involuntary manslaughter instruction at issue here. See Syl. Pt. 6, in part, Tennant.

Upon finding involuntary manslaughter adequately covered in Appellee's instruction number one-A, we also determine the trial court did not err by refusing Appellant's instructions on involuntary manslaughter as it was covered in the charge. See Syl. Pt. 20, Hamric. Moreover, while Appellant's instruction numbers twenty-three and twenty-five discuss first and second degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, neither instruction mentions voluntary manslaughter, which is what the jury ultimately convicted Appellant of committing. Although Appellant concedes in her brief that she should have amended instruction number twenty-three to reflect the trial court's decision that a voluntary manslaughter instruction was appropriate in this case, Appellant did not offer to amend either instruction at trial. Thus, these instructions represented incomplete statements of the law.

D. Voluntary Manslaughter

Appellant next argues, however, that the trial court erred by finding there was sufficient evidence to support an instruction on voluntary manslaughter and that the instruction given contains an inaccurate statement of the law. As to voluntary manslaughter, Appellee's instruction number one-A provides, in relevant part: "In order to convict the defendant of the offense of voluntary manslaughter you must find from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt each of the above stated essential elements [for first degree murder] except that the killing was not deliberate, premediated, or maliciously, but that it was intentional." To put the instruction in affirmative terms, the instruction defines voluntary manslaughter as a willful, intentional, and felonious killing which was not committed with deliberation, premeditation, or malice. Appellant complains because the trial court completely failed in this instruction to inform the jury on the "elements" of gross provocation and in the heat of passion. Upon review, we find the trial court's exclusion of these factors does not warrant reversal under the facts of this case.

To begin, we point out that there is no statutory definition of voluntary manslaughter in West Virginia. Thus, we are forced to look to the common law in order to determine the essential elements of the crime. At common law, criminal homicide was divided into two offenses, murder and manslaughter. 5 William Blackstone, Commentaries *190. The principal difference between these offenses was said to be that voluntary manslaughter "arises from the sudden heat of the passions," while murder arises "from the wickedness of the heart." Id. Blackstone specifically defined manslaughter as "the unlawful killing of another, without malice either express or implied; which may be either voluntary, upon a sudden heat; or involuntary, but in the commission of some unlawful act." Id. at *191.

For a modern definition of voluntary manslaughter, Appellant cites State v. Beegle, 188 W. Va. 681, 425 S.E.2d 823 (1992), where we stated in a per curiam opinion that "[t]his Court has rather consistently defined voluntary manslaughter as a sudden, intentional killing upon gross provocation and in the heat of passion." Id. at 685, 425 S.E.2d at 827. Like Blackstone, this Court has said a "heat of passion engendered by provocation and resulting in an intentional killing cannot be traced to a malignant heart, but it is imputable to human frailty. Passion and malice are not convertible terms, so that an act prompted by the one cannot be said to proceed from the other." State v. Kirtley, 162 W. Va. 249, 253-54, 252 S.E.2d 374, 376 (1978) (citations and internal quotations omitted). Importantly, however, in addition to the cursory definition of voluntary manslaughter we set forth in Beegle, this Court also has emphasized that malice is the critical distinguishing feature between murder and voluntary manslaughter. Id. at 254, 252 S.E.2d at 376-77, citing State v. Starkey, 161 W. Va. 517, 526, 244 S.E.2d 219, 225 (1978), overruled on other grounds Guthrie, 194 W. Va. at 667, 461 S.E.2d at 173. Given this additional emphasis, the question for this Court now to resolve is whether the State carries the burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt a defendant acted "upon gross provocation and in the heat of passion" in order to convict the defendant of voluntary manslaughter.

This precise issue was addressed three years ago by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in United States v. Quintero, 21 F.3d 885 (9th Cir. 1994). The defendant in Quintero was indicted for first degree murder and convicted of voluntary manslaughter as a result of the death of his two-year-old daughter. Id. at 888. Relying upon the federal definition of voluntary manslaughter, the defendant appealed his conviction, arguing no evidence was presented that he acted "upon a sudden quarrel or heat of passion" when his daughter was killed and, thus, the government failed to prove an essential element of the crime. Id. at 889. The court disagreed and affirmed the defendant's conviction. Id. at 895.

In its analysis, the court first observed that, under Rule 31(c) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, a defendant only may be convicted of an uncharged offense if the elements of the uncharged offense are "necessary included" in the elements of the charged offense. Id. at 889 (citations omitted). Thus, the court said voluntary manslaughter, as a lesser included offense of murder, cannot contain elements greater than what is necessary to obtain a murder conviction. Id. In other words, "[t]o require the government to prove sudden quarrel or heat of passion in such circumstances would impermissibly add to the `subset' of elements that makes up the lesser included offense." Id. at 890 (citing Schmuck v. United States, 489 U.S. 705, 716, 109 S.Ct. 1443, 1450, 103 L.Ed.2d 734, 746 (1989)). Instead, the court identified sudden quarrel or heat of passion as mitigating factors which are in the nature of a defense, reducing murder to manslaughter. Thus, the court stated that it is not the government's burden to "prove the presence of sudden quarrel or heat of passion before a conviction for voluntary manslaughter can stand in a murder trial." Id. (emphasis original; citing United States v. Alexander, 471 F.2d 923, 942-43 (D.C. Cir. 1972)).

In West Virginia, there can be no doubt that we also have considered voluntary manslaughter as a lesser included offense of murder. See generally Guthrie, 194 W. Va. at 671, 461 S.E.2d at 177 (finding "[t]he jury was charged in this case on the offenses of first and second degree murder and the lesser-included offenses of voluntary and involuntary manslaughter" (emphasis added)); Syl. Pt. 1, State v. Louk, 169 W. Va. 24, 285 S.E.2d 432 (1981) (declaring the test to be applied to determine if an offense is a lesser included offense of a greater offense); W. Va. Code § 61-2-1 (providing the definition of first and second degree murder); W. Va. R.Crim. P. 31(c) (containing identical language as federal rule). As a lesser included offense, we agree with the court's conclusion in Quintero and hold that gross provocation and "heat of passion are . . . not essential elements of voluntary manslaughter, and therefore, they need not be proven by evidence beyond a reasonable doubt." Quintero, 21 F.3d at 891 (citation and footnote omitted). It is intent without malice, not heat of passion, which is the distinguishing feature of voluntary manslaughter. Id. Generally speaking, with respect to an unlawful killing, "[i]f malice is proven, the crime becomes second [or first] degree murder; if intent is not proven, the crime becomes involuntary manslaughter." Id. at 890 (citations and footnote omitted).

Thus, concluding a defendant can be convicted of voluntary manslaughter without the State proving beyond a reasonable doubt the defendant acted upon gross provocation and in the heat of passion, the final determination for this Court to make is whether there is sufficient evidence to support the jury's verdict. Viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, we find such evidence exists. Clearly, the evidence presented at trial supports Appellee's theory that Appellant committed an intentional, unlawful killing. Although Appellant maintained she thought the baby was dead at birth, by its verdict, the jury obviously did not believe her testimony. Given the conclusive medical evidence showing the baby definitely was alive and suffered from no in utero distress, the jury certainly was justified in finding Appellant intentionally killed the baby when she placed her in the woodstove. However, there also was sufficient evidence presented for the jury to find Appellant did not kill the baby maliciously; rather, she killed the baby because she believed it was the best thing to do under the circumstances. Ms. Mangino testified that Appellant told her the baby would be "fucked up" and no one would want the child because Appellant took birth control pills and consumed alcohol while pregnant. Moreover, as Appellant never revealed to her parents she was pregnant prior to the birth and Appellant clearly did not want to raise the baby herself, the jury easily could have concluded the baby was not killed maliciously but because Appellant saw killing the baby as her only option. Therefore, as sufficient evidence exists to support Appellant's conviction of voluntary manslaughter, we decline to disturb the jury's verdict.

III. CRITICAL STAGE

Appellant next argues she was deprived of her right to be present at a critical stage of the proceedings when the prosecuting attorney failed to notify defense counsel of, or serve defense counsel with a copy of, a petition to exhume the baby's body for a second autopsy. Appellant claims she did not become aware of the petition or the trial court's authorization of the exhumation until after the baby was exhumed and transported to Morgantown for the autopsy to be performed. Appellant maintains that, if Appellee had given her notice when the petition was filed, she would have challenged the trial court's authority to order the exhumation and, thereby, prevented the exhumation from occurring. Appellant moved the trial court to suppress the results of the second autopsy, but her motion was denied.

The right to be present or be represented by counsel at a critical stage proceeding is guaranteed by Article III, Section 14 of the West Virginia Constitution and the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the United States Constitution. See Illinois v. Allen, 397 U.S. 337, 338, 90 S.Ct. 1057, 1058, 25 L.Ed.2d 353, 356 (1970); Snyder v. Massachusetts, 291 U.S. 97, 106-08, 54 S.Ct. 330, 332-33, 78 L.Ed. 674, 678-79 (1934); State v. Crabtree, 198 W. Va. 620, 629, 482 S.E.2d 605, 614 (1996); Syl. Pt. 6, State v. Boyd, 160 W. Va. 234, 233 S.E.2d 710 (1977). This Court has defined a critical stage as "a criminal proceeding . . . where the defendant's right to a fair trial will be affected." Syl. Pt. 2, State v. Tiller, 168 W. Va. 522, 285 S.E.2d 371 (1981). We also have said if a defendant is not present at a critical stage "the State is required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that what transpired in his absence was harmless." Syl. Pt. 6, in part, Boyd; see also Syl. Pt. 3, State ex rel. Redman v. Hedrick, 185 W. Va. 709, 408 S.E.2d 659 (1991) (declaring "[i]n a criminal proceeding, the defendant's absence at a critical stage of such proceeding is not reversible error where no possibility of prejudice to the defendant occurs").

Rule 43 of the West Virginia Rules of Criminal Procedure further secures a defendant's right to be present. However, it also states the presence of a defendant is not required when, inter alia, a conference or argument concerns "a technical question of law not depending upon facts within the personal knowledge of the defendant." W. Va. R.Crim. P. 43(c)(3). Clearly, in this case, the trial court's order permitting the baby to be exhumed for a second autopsy to be performed (because the first autopsy was considered to be incomplete) fell within this exception and it did not deprive Appellant of her right to a fair trial.

IV. CREDIT FOR TIME SERVED

In her last assignment of error, Appellant asserts she should be given credit for time that she spent on home confinement while released on pretrial bail. We recently addressed this precise issue in State v. Hughes, 197 W. Va. 518, 476 S.E.2d 189 (1996), where we determined in syllabus point four:

When a person who has been arrested, but not yet convicted of a crime, is admitted to pre-trial bail with the condition that he be restricted to home confinement pursuant to West Virginia Code § 62-1C-2(c) (1992), the home confinement restriction is not considered the same as actual confinement in a jail, nor is it considered the same as home confinement under the Home Confinement Act, West Virginia Code §§ 62-11B-1 to -12 (1993). Therefore, the time spent in home confinement when it is a condition of bail under West Virginia Code § 62-1C-2(c) does not count as credit toward a sentence subsequently imposed.

Id. In making our decision in Hughes, we recognized that the Home Confinement Act §§ 62-11B-1 to -12 (1992 Supp. 1993) (hereinafter the Act) only applies to "offenders" and a defendant awaiting trial on pre-trial bail is not an "offender" as defined in the Act. 197 W. Va. at 528, 476 S.E.2d at 199. We also found there were numerous mandatory restrictions placed on a defendant being awarded home confinement under the Act, but such restrictions are not required under the statutory scheme regarding bail. Id. Nevertheless, Appellant asserts that, because the restrictions placed on her correspond with some of the restrictions under the Act, her case is distinguishable from Hughes and, therefore, she should be awarded credit. We disagree.

First, like Hughes, Appellant was not convicted of any offense when she was placed on home confinement. Thus, Appellant was not an "offender" under the Act and the Act did not apply to her. Second, under the facts of this case, we find it inconsequential that the conditions imposed upon Appellant as a part of her home confinement coincided with some of the mandatory requirements as set forth in the Act. A circuit court is granted wide discretion in formulating bail in order to secure "`the appearance of a defendant to answer to a specific criminal charge . . . .'" Id. at 528, 476 S.E.2d at 199 (quoting W. Va. Code § 62-1C-2 (1992); other citations omitted). Here, the circuit court's order basically provided that Appellant was to be electronically monitored, as administered by a probation officer, and Appellant only could leave her house in order to attend church; consult with her attorney; or receive medical, psychiatric, or psychological treatment. Not only does this order fail to cover all the requirements imposed by the Act, but we also find the circuit court clearly acted within its discretion by imposing these basic requirements as part of Appellant's home confinement in order to secure her presence at trial. Therefore, under Hughes, we conclude that Appellant is not entitled to credit for the time she spent at home while awaiting her trial.

V. CONCLUSION

In sum, we find it was not error for the trial court to accept Appellee's instructions on voluntary and involuntary manslaughter over those offered by Appellant. We also determine Appellant was not deprived of her right to be present at a critical stage of the proceedings and was not entitled to time served while released on home confinement as a condition of her pretrial bail. Therefore, for the foregoing reasons, we affirm the final order of the Circuit Court of Marshall County.

Affirmed.