2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY-FOUR Appendix - Rules of Court (§§ 10.5 — 173) › II - Rules of Criminal Procedure (§ 173) › Chapter XIV - APPEALS › Rule 200 - ORAL EVIDENCE: DESIGNATION

(a) When the appellant or petitioner deems that it is necessary for the Circuit Court of Appeals to examine a portion of the oral evidence produced before the Court of First Instance, in order to resolve an appeal or a writ of certiorari he/she shall submit one, or a combination of the following:
(1) Stipulated statement.
(2) Narrative statement.
(3) Transcript.
The narrative statement shall only proceed in absence of a stipulated statement. The transcript shall be in order only when the interested party proves to the Circuit Court of Appeals that it is not possible to prepare a narrative or stipulated statement, or that the narrative statement that was approved does not adequately expound the oral evidence, notwithstanding the objections or amendments filed in a timely manner before the Court of First Instance.
Notwithstanding the above, the Circuit Court of Appeals may order as an exception, on its own initiative and in the exercise of its discretion, the preparation of a narrative statement or a transcript of the oral evidence, or of a portion thereof.
(b) The statement of the evidence shall present the manner that the controversies pertinent to the appeal or certiorari arose and were resolved by the Court of First Instance. The statement shall include a report of the oral evidence presented before the Court of First Instance that is pertinent to substantiate the errors indicated in the appeal or writ of certiorari.
(c) The appellant or petitioning party, within ten (10) days after the writ of certiorari or bill of appeal has been served, shall summon the prosecutor to a meeting to prepare a stipulated statement.
(d) The stipulated statement of the oral evidence shall be filed with the Circuit Court of Appeals within thirty (30) days following the filing of the appeal or notice of the issue of the writ of certiorari. If a stipulation on the statement of the oral evidence is not achieved, the appellant or petitioning party shall report the dissent to the Circuit Court of Appeals, no later than thirty (30) days from the date that the writ of appeal was filed or notice of the issue of the writ of certiorari is served.
(e) The narrative statement shall be filed in the corresponding part of the Court of First Instance within the term of twenty (20) days from the date that notice is given of the dissent to prepare a stipulated statement. Under no circumstance shall a narrative statement be filed after the expiration of the fifty (50) day term of filing of the writ of appeal or the notice of the issue of the writ of certiorari, unless the Circuit Court of Appeals extends said term.
On the same day that the narrative statement is filed, the appellant or petitioning party shall serve this process, along with a copy of the narrative statement submitted to the prosecutor, the Attorney General and the Circuit Court of Appeals. The prosecutor shall present its objections to the narrative statement or propose amendments within the following ten (10) days. The objections or amendments shall be submitted to the Court of First Instance and shall be served on the Circuit Court of Appeals that same day.
(f) Once the terms provided in the above subsection have elapsed, the narrative statement, with the proposed objections and amendments, shall be submitted for approval by the Court of First Instance. If the Court of First Instance has not approved the narrative statement within thirty (30) days of its submission, and provided that no objections or amendments have been submitted pursuant to the above subsection, the narrative statement shall be deemed to be approved. If any objections or amendments are submitted, express approval of the narrative statement shall be necessary. When the express approval of the narrative statement is received, the clerk of the Court of First Instance shall serve notice by remitting an official copy to the Circuit Court of Appeals.
(g) The terms provided in this rule may be extended through a duly-grounded motion and for just cause. The appellant or petitioning party shall be responsible for complying with the terms and procedures provided in this rule and for serving notice on the Circuit Court of Appeals of any noncompliance or related inconvenience. Failure to comply with such responsibility shall bar the Circuit Court of appeals considering any statement of error of the Court of First Instance in the evaluation of the oral evidence, and may result in dismissal of the petition.
(h) In order to expedite the preparation of a narrative statement of the evidence, the legal counsels may use their own recordings, as authorized by the rules approved by the Supreme Court.
History —Dec. 25, 1995, No. 251, § 7, eff. May 1, 1996.