|
The Record on Appeal
The
"record" includes the original papers filed in the trial court, the
transcript of proceedings, and the exhibits to the original papers and
transcripts, if any. App.R. 9(A). When the Court of Appeals
decides whether the trial court made a mistake in its decision, the
Court can only review the evidence and documents that are part of the
trial court record.
Key Points
* If there was a hearing before the trial court
judge, the Court of Appeals will only review a typed transcript, not an
audio or video recording of the hearing.
* The Court can only review evidence that was
admitted before the trial court; new evidence cannot be added to the
record on appeal.
* Appellant's brief cannot be filed until after the
Record on Appeal is filed and the clerk sends the notice required by
App.R. 11.
Requesting a Transcript of Proceedings
You may decide you want to include a transcript of a
hearing or trial in the record on appeal. If you do, you must
prepare and file a praecipe to the court reporter. The praecipe
must be signed by the court reporter before it is filed. App.R.
9(B) gives detailed instructions on the steps the appellant must take to
request a transcript of proceedings.
Official Court Reporter or Appointed
Transcriber
There is not always an official court reporter in the
trial court, especially in municipal court. If there is no
official court reporter, and the trial or hearing was electronically
recorded, App.R. 9(B) explains the process for asking the trial court to
appoint a person to transcribe the recording. The Court of Appeals
will not review a recording of a hearing or trial. Instead, the
recording must be transcribed by an official court reporter and filed
with the court. App.R. 9(B).
App.R. 9(B)(2) states that the trial court may
appoint an official transcriber, or court reporter, to transcribe all
hearings. If there is no official transcriber for the court, the
trial court may appoint an official transcriber either on its own or on
motion of a party. App.R. 9(B)(2). You should check with the
trial court to ask if there is an official court reporter and, if there
is not one, ask for the trial court's procedure to appoint an official
court reporter.
Time to "Transmit" the Record on Appeal
The record must
be "transmitted," or delivered, to the Court of Appeals within 40 days of the
filing of the notice of appeal. App.R. 10(A). The
trial court can extend the time for transmitting the record once.
Local Rule 10(C). After that, you must file a motion for more time
to file the record with the Court of Appeals.
The appellant has the burden of making sure that the
record is transferred to the court of appeals and that it includes everything
the appellant asked for in the Docketing Statement and praecipe.
Local Rule 9(A). If you think something is missing after the
record has been sent from the trial court to the Court of
Appeals, you must file a motion in the Court of Appeals asking the Court
to supplement the record with the missing material. You must show that whatever you believe
is missing was actually part of the proceedings in the trial court and
that it should have been included but was accidentally left out of the
record on appeal.
|
