Opinion ID: 853915
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure to Record Bench Conferences

Text: Ford claims that his right to appeal was violated by the trial court's failure to provide a complete transcript of the proceedings. He asserts specifically that the trial court did not record bench conferences. Appellant bears the burden of presenting a record that is complete with respect to the issues raised on appeal. Clark v. State, 562 N.E.2d 11 (Ind.1990). This burden is sustained by submitting a transcript of the trial proceedings or, where no transcript is available, an affidavit setting forward the content of the proceedings. Id. (citing Ind.Appellate Rule. 7.2(A)) [3] ; see also Ruetz v. State, 268 Ind. 42, 46, 373 N.E.2d 152, 154-55 (1978) (substitution of affidavit in place of verbatim transcript was not denial of due process). Here, the parties were able to reconstruct bench conferences by affidavit and submitted them to this Court in the form of a supplemental record. Ford's argument concerns six unrecorded bench conferences. Affidavits as to the substance of these proceedings were provided by Dennis Zahn and James Voyles, defense counsel for Ford at trial, (Supp.R. at 779-81, 782-84), and deputy prosecutors Sheila Carlisle, (Supp.R. at 786-88), and Carl Brizzi, (Supp.R. at 792-94). The parties reconstructed these bench conferences according to the terms provided in App.R. 7.2(A)(3)(c). Ford's right to an appeal was thus not jeopardized by the trial court's failure to record.