Opinion ID: 1919348
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 24

Heading: Record of Jury Instructions.

Text: ś 147. Hodges claims error in the fact that the jury instructions were not transcribed as part of the trial record, even though such action was requested by the attorneys at trial. Hodges claims that the trial court's failure to secure a transcription of the jury instructions deprived him of a fair trial and a fair review of that trial on appeal, requiring reversal of his conviction and sentence. The State claims that Hodges is procedurally barred from raising this issue. In the instant case, Hodges failed to comply with M.R.A.P. 10(b)(5), which required him to bring such issue to the court reporter's attention within fourteen days. This Court has held on numerous occasions that it is the duty of the appellant to see that the record of the trial proceedings wherein error is claim[ed] is brought before this Court. Jackson v. State, 684 So.2d 1213, 1226 (Miss.1996) (quoting Smith v. State, 572 So.2d 847, 849 (Miss.1990)). Therefore, this issue is procedurally barred. Procedural bar notwithstanding, this Court will consider this issue on the merits. ś 148. This Court has held that when the defendant does not claim any error from the proceedings which are missing from the record the defendant is not prejudiced by the unfortunate missing portions of the record and reversal is not required. Watts v. State, 717 So.2d 314, 317 (Miss. 1998). In the case sub judice, Hodges does not claim any specific error from the proceedings which were missing, i.e., the transcription of the jury instructions. Therefore, this Court holds that Hodges is not prejudiced by the missing portions of the record. Furthermore, the case sub judice is also similar to Simmons v. State, 805 So.2d 452, 506 (Miss.2001), where this Court held that it was difficult to ascertain exactly what effect the inclusion of the absent jury instructions would have achieved. In Simmons, a true copy of the jury instructions were missing from the record but affidavits and copies of transcripts of the instructions being read were included within the record. Id. This Court held that the record was sufficient to analyze all of the issues and properly review the case. Id. ś 149. Hodges does not claim any error from the proceedings which are missing from the record. Even though there was no transcription of the instructions read to the jury, copies of all the instructions which were read to the jury are included in the court's papers. Furthermore, the parties and the court conducted thorough and detailed, on the record hearings concerning the jury instructions. The record also indicates that the jury instructions were read to the jury by the Judge. Since the instructions were included in the court's papers Hodges was not denied a fair review of trial on appeal. This was sufficient to analyze all of the issues and properly review the case and since Hodges does not raise any error from this portion of the proceedings, this issue lacks merit.