Title: Winters v. Elders

State: arkansas

Issuer: Arkansas Supreme Court

Document:

Keenan WINTERS v. Joycelyn ELDERS, M.D., and
The University of Arkansas for Medical
Sciences

95-1069                                            ___ S.W.2d ___

                    Supreme Court of Arkansas
                Opinion delivered April 29, 1996


1.   Appeal & error -- appellant's abstract flagrantly deficient --
     judgment is bare essential of abstract. -- Where appellant
     failed to abstract the trial court's judgment, his abstract
     was flagrantly deficient under Ark. Sup. Ct. R. 4-2(a)(6); the
     judgment appealed from is a bare essential of an abstract. 

2.   Appeal & error -- rationale for abstracting requirement. --
     The reason for the supreme court's abstracting rule is basic:
     there is only one transcript; there are seven judges on the
     court; and it is impossible for each of the seven judges to
     examine the one transcript.

3.   Appeal & error -- burden on appellant to bring up record
     sufficient to show error. -- Where a copy of the chancellor's
     letter opinion did not appear in the record, appellant could
     not demonstrate error; the burden was on appellant to bring up
     a record sufficient to show that the chancellor erred.

4.   Appeal & error -- appellant's petition to complete record did
     not satisfy due-diligence standard. -- Where appellant filed
     a petition for writ of certiorari to complete the record after
     the appeal was orally argued, the supreme court held that any
     attempt to supplement the record after the case has been
     submitted does not satisfy the supreme court's due-diligence
     standard set forth in Hedge v. State, 317 Ark. 104,