Opinion ID: 546337
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Lost Transcript

Text: 7 The appellant's first argument is that the court reporter's loss of a portion of the trial transcript prevents adequate review of the record and requires us to remand this matter for a new trial. This loss, the appellant argues, constitutes a violation of 28 U.S.C. Sec. 753(b), which requires the court reporter to keep a verbatim record of the proceedings. The lost portion of the transcript contains a portion of the cross examination and redirect examination of Walter Marsh. 8 The appellant contends that this portion of the transcript contains rulings by the trial court limiting cross examination that constitute an abuse of discretion. A substitute statement, however, was prepared and approved by the trial court in accordance with Rule 10(c) of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, which permits the substitution of a statement that has been prepared from the memories of the parties. Rule 10(c) provides: 9 If no report of the evidence or proceedings at a hearing or trial was made, or if a transcript is unavailable, the appellant may prepare a statement of the evidence or proceedings from the best available means, including the appellant's recollection. The statement shall be served on the appellee, who may serve objections or proposed amendments thereto within 10 days after service. Thereupon the statement and any objections or proposed amendments shall be submitted to the district court for settlement and approved and as settled and approved shall be included by the clerk of the district court in the record on appeal. 10 Statements were prepared by both the appellant and the appellee from their recollections of the testimony that was contained in the lost transcript. The trial court resolved the differences in the proposed statements and approved as settled the statement that was prepared by the government, finding that it comport[ed] with the recollection and trial notes of the Court. There is no indication that the appellant raised any objection to this recapitulation until now. 11 Both parties rely on United States v. Piascik, 559 F.2d 545 (9th Cir.1977), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1062, 98 S.Ct. 1235, 55 L.Ed.2d 762 (1978), which involved a court reporter's failure to record closing arguments in a criminal trial. The Piascik court declined to follow a fifth circuit rule that required reversal and a new trial in a similar situation, instead relying on Brown v. United States, 314 F.2d 293 (9th Cir.1963), which held that [t]he appropriate procedure is to vacate the judgment and remand for a hearing to determine whether appellant was prejudiced by the error in failing to record the arguments. Id. at 295. Despite the fact that no Rule 10(c) hearing was held to reconstruct the record, Piascik's convictions were affirmed because defense counsel waived the recording of closing arguments and because the court concluded that any error alleged was harmless. Piascik, 559 F.2d at 550. 12 Here the trial court reconstructed the record in accordance with Rule 10(c). The appellant had the opportunity to raise timely objections to the substituted portion of the record, and he failed to do so. Any violation of section 753(b) has been remedied, and the appellant will not be permitted to contest the validity of the portion of the record that was substituted under Rule 10(c). Moreover, there is nothing in the substituted record to indicate trial errors occurred that would require reversal. The appellant has failed to show that any error was committed in the lost portion of the record, he has failed to show that the record in its present form is insufficient to review any claims of error, and he has failed to show that he has been prejudiced by the partial loss of the record. See Commercial Credit Equipment Corp. v. L & A Contracting Co., 549 F.2d 979, 980 (5th Cir.1977). This argument fails.