The importance of a meaningful record on appeal.

The “record” consists of the Clerk’s Transcript or an appendix prepared by one or more of the parties of documents filed with the lower court, the Reporter’s Transcript of the oral proceedings, and the exhibits.

If you are the appellant, you have the burden of showing error on an adequate record. (Iliff v. Dustrud (2003) 107 Cal.App.4th 1201, 1209.) That means two things:

• You must have created a record that shows the error, and
  


• You must produce enough of the record for the reviewing court to show that the error occurred.

“‘A necessary corollary to this rule is that if the record is inadequate for meaningful review, the appellant defaults and the decision of the trial court should be affirmed.’” (Gee v. American Realty & Construction, Inc. (2002) 99 Cal.App.4th 1412, 1416.)

In Denham v. Superior Court (1970) 2 Cal.3d 557, the court stated:

“‘A judgment or order of the lower court is presumed correct. All intendments and presumptions are indulged to support it on matters as to which the record is silent, and error must be affirmatively shown. This is not only a general principle of appellate practice but an ingredient of the constitutional doctrine of reversible error.’”

(Id. at p. 564.)

Failing to create a meaningful record can occur in many ways. In my next post, I will provide a few examples and note some pitfalls in selecting the record.