Opinion ID: 1469088
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Failure to Order Transcript

Text: The seller argues that plaintiff's failure to order the trial transcript precludes a meaningful review of the testimony upon which the trial justice based her decision. The plaintiff maintains that it was not required to provide a transcript because this appeal is limited to questions of law. The plaintiff has indicated in its filings with this Court that buyer is not challenging the trial court's discretionary factual findings. Rather, this appeal is limited to the trial court's application of the pertinent law to those facts. The defendant suggests that in the absence of a transcript it is impossible for this Court to determine whether the trial justice overlooked or misconceived the evidence or whether she applied the correct rule of law to the facts as she found them. The deliberate decision to prosecute an appeal without providing the Court with a transcript of the proceedings in the trial court is risky business. Unless the appeal is limited to a challenge to rulings of law that appear sufficiently on the record and the party accepts the findings of the trial justice as correct, the appeal must fail. DePetrillo v. Coffey, 118 R.I. 519, 521 n. 1, 376 A.2d 317, 318 n. 1 (1977) (citing Sormanti v. Deacutis, 77 R.I. 507, 511, 77 A.2d 919, 922 (1951)). In this case, the trial justice found that no enforceable contract existed between the parties and that Truslow did not have apparent authority to bind the seller to a transaction with plaintiff. She also found that the parties specifically waived executing a letter of intent that included the terms of the sale. Although several draft agreements containing the essential terms of the sale were prepared, the trial justice concluded that seller intended only to be bound by an executed purchase and sales agreement and never agreed to the transaction in writing. On appeal, buyer challenges these conclusions and alleges the trial justice misapplied the law to the facts as she found them. The bench decision in this case is detailed and lengthy and encompasses twenty-five transcript pages. In light of plaintiff's representation that it accepts the findings of fact by the trial justice, we are satisfied that the appeal may go forward.