Opinion ID: 760987
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Review of Incomplete Record.

Text: 22 The state first argues that the district court's harmless error analysis was flawed because it failed to review the entire state record. The record before the magistrate judge and district court consisted of the competency trial transcripts and those portions of the criminal trial transcripts in which Brown requested funds to hire a psychiatrist, and in which Brown, and Drs. Ruedi and Robison, testified. See R., Doc. 36 at 4 n. 2. However, the state did not include the entire state criminal trial transcripts in the record before the district court. See id., Doc. 18 at 2. Both the magistrate judge's report and the district court's order detailed the portions of the record they had reviewed, putting the state on notice that they did not have, and did not review, the entire state court record. See R., Doc. 36 at 4 n. 2; Doc. 33 at 8. Despite this knowledge, the state did not raise the incomplete record issue in its objections to the magistrate judge's report and recommendation. Nevertheless, it argues that once the district court determined that the state trial court had erred in denying Brown's request for expert funds, it should have ordered supplementation of the record to include the entire state court criminal trial transcripts in order to conduct a harmless error analysis. 23 Brown responds that the state waived the right to challenge the district court's incomplete record review because it failed to raise this issue in its objections to the magistrate judge's report and recommendation. It is settled Tenth Circuit law that when a party fails to object to the magistrate's findings and recommendations within the appropriate time, he or she waives the right to appellate review. Trierweiler v. Croxton & Trench Holding Corp., 90 F.3d 1523, 1533 (10th Cir.1996). 24 The state concedes that it failed to object to the lack of a complete record, but argues the district court's failure to review the complete record amounts to plain error, and contends that the interests of justice dictate that the waiver rule should not be applied. See Moore v. United States, 950 F.2d 656, 659 (10th Cir.1991) (the waiver rule need not be applied when the interests of justice so dictate). The state has made resolution of this issue easier, however, because it has moved to supplement the record on appeal with the complete state court record, and requests that this court conduct its own harmless error analysis based on a review of the entire state record. The state does not argue that the district court's failure to review the entire record requires that we remand this case to the district court for reconsideration of its harmless error analysis, nor do we conclude such a remand is necessary. 25 It is well settled that reviewing courts must evaluate a trial error in the context of the entire trial record when determining whether the error was harmless. See, e.g., United States v. Hasting, 461 U.S. 499, 509 & n. 7, 103 S.Ct. 1974, 76 L.Ed.2d 96 (1983); Crespin v. New Mexico, 144 F.3d 641, 649 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 119 S.Ct. 378, 142 L.Ed.2d 313, 67 U.S.L.W. 3270 (1998). It is also well settled that in order to review the district court's harmless error determination, this court must make a de novo examination of the trial record. See United States v. Tome, 61 F.3d 1446, 1455 (10th Cir.1995). Accordingly, we grant the state's request to supplement the record on appeal. Having now undertaken our own de novo review of the entire state criminal record, we conclude, for the reasons set forth below, that the state trial court's error in refusing to allow Brown funds to hire an independent psychiatrist was not harmless. Thus, assuming arguendo that the district court erred in failing to obtain and review the entire record, the result in this case would be no different. 26