RECORD ON APPEAL

(a) Contents of Record. The record on appeal shall consist of the trial court clerk’s record and exhibits filed in the trial court, the reporter’s transcript of the proceedings, if any, and a copy of the docket entries. (b) Transcripts. Unless excused for good cause by a Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, the record on appeal shall include both a print and an electronic copy of any transcript that is or becomes part of the record on appeal. The electronic copy of each transcript shall be in a native .pdf format. The appellant shall ensure that an electronic copy of any transcript that is or becomes part of the record on appeal is emailed to the Clerk of the Law Court at the email address that the Clerk of the Law Court designates. (1) Criminal Cases. (A) Order of Transcript. The appellant is responsible for ordering the transcript by using one of the methods prescribed by Rule 2A(d). Except as otherwise designated, the standard transcript in a criminal appeal shall include the testimony of the witnesses at trial; any bench conferences; and, in a jury trial, the closing arguments and the court’s charge to the jury. The standard transcript shall also include any hearing on a motion to suppress or a motion in limine, if a ruling on such a motion is at issue on appeal, and the sentencing hearing, if sentencing is at issue on appeal. Appellant’s counsel may add portions to this standard transcript by utilizing the requisite Judicial Branch form. Appellant’s counsel shall delete from the standard transcript any portion not necessary for purposes of the appeal. Within 7 days after receipt of appellant’s transcript order, appellee’s counsel may order additional portions of the transcript by utilizing the requisite Judicial Branch form. A copy of any transcript order not filed as part of, or contemporaneously with, the notice of appeal shall be filed with the Clerk of the Law Court and served on each other party, or if a party is represented, counsel for a represented party. 22 (B) Payment for Transcript. A non-indigent appellant shall make satisfactory financial arrangements with the court reporter or Office of Transcript Operations within 14 days after filing the notice of appeal, or the transcript order shall be cancelled, in which case the appeal shall proceed without a transcript. In the case of an indigent appellant, the cost of the transcript shall be paid for by the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services. An indigent appellant is an appellant who has been determined indigent (i) by the trial court before verdict pursuant to M.R.U. Crim. P. 44(b), (ii) by the trial court after verdict pursuant to M.R.U. Crim. P. 44A(b), or (iii) by a Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court pursuant to M.R.U. Crim. P. 44A(c). (2) Civil Cases. (A) Order of Transcript. An appellant shall order the transcript or portions of the transcript deemed necessary for appeal by using one of the methods prescribed by Rule 2A(d). If the appellant intends to urge on appeal that a finding or conclusion is unsupported by the evidence or is contrary to the evidence, the appellant shall include in the record a transcript of all evidence relevant to such finding or conclusion. If any appellee deems a transcript of other parts of the proceedings to be necessary, the appellee shall, within 7 days after the service of the appellant’s transcript order form, file with the Clerk of the Law Court and serve on the appellant a designation of additional parts of the transcript to be included. Unless within 7 days after service of such designation the appellant has ordered such parts, and has so notified the appellee, the appellee may within the following 7 days either order the parts or move in the Law Court for an order requiring the appellant to do so. (B) Payment for Transcript. (i) Within 14 days after filing the notice of appeal and transcript order form, a party must make satisfactory arrangements with the reporter or other person from whom the transcript is ordered for payment of the cost of the transcript. In every instance in which a reporter or the Office of Transcript 23 Operations requests a deposit prior to beginning production of a transcript, that deposit shall be paid within 7 days after the date on which the attorney, litigant, or other interested person was notified of the amount of the deposit. In the event that the deposit has not been paid within the required time, the reporter or the Office of Transcript Operations shall consider the order canceled and shall so inform the Clerk of the Law Court, the party ordering the transcript, and the court in which the transcript was to be filed. The appeal or other matter shall then proceed without the transcript. (ii) In the case of an indigent parent who is an appellant in a child protection case brought by the State, the cost of the transcript shall be paid for by the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services. An indigent parent-appellant is one who has been determined indigent (a) by the trial court before entry of the judgment or order appealed from, (b) by the trial court after entry of the judgment or order appealed from, or (c) by a Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court. (iii) An electronic recording or statement of the evidence in lieu of a transcript may be filed to support an appeal only when the proceeding was recorded by the court or by an official court reporter, but, pursuant to Rule 91(f)(2) of the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure, the trial court (a) has determined that the appellant is indigent and (b) has approved the use an electronic recording or statement of the evidence in lieu of a transcript. (c) Condensed Transcript. The party initially ordering the transcript or a part thereof in a criminal or a civil case may order a transcript in any format allowed by the Office of Transcript Operations. Transcripts filed as part of the record on appeal may consist of transcripts using condensed pages reproduced in accordance with M.R. Civ. P. 5(i)(2). (d) Unavailable Transcript. (1) In the event a hearing or trial was not recorded or a transcript of the evidence or proceedings at a hearing or trial cannot be prepared for reasons not attributable to the appellant, the appellant may prepare a statement of the evidence or proceedings from the best available means, including recollection, for use instead of a reporter’s transcript. 24 (2) The appellant’s statement shall be filed with the trial court and served on the appellee within 21 days after entry of judgment, or 14 days after the filing of the notice of appeal, whichever occurs first. The appellee may file and serve objections or propose amendments thereto within 7 days after service. (3) After the filing of any statement of the evidence or proceedings and any objections, the statement and any objections or proposed amendments shall be submitted to the trial court for settlement and approval and, as settled and approved, shall be included in the record on appeal. (e) Correction or Modification of Record. If any difference arises as to whether the record on appeal truly discloses what occurred in the trial court, or if anything material to either party is omitted from the record on appeal, the trial court may on motion or suggestion, after appropriate notice to the parties, supplement the record to correct the omission or misstatement, or the Law Court may on motion or suggestion direct that a supplemental record be transmitted by the trial court clerk. All other questions as to the content and form of the record shall be presented to the Law Court. (f) Record on Agreed Statement. When the questions presented by an appeal to the Law Court can be determined without an examination of all the pleadings, evidence, and proceedings in the court below, the parties may prepare and sign a statement of the case showing how the questions arose and were decided, and setting forth only so many of the facts averred and proved or sought to be proved as are essential to a decision of the questions by the Law Court. The statement shall include a copy of the judgment appealed from, a copy of the notice of appeal with its filing date, and a concise statement of the points to be relied on by the appellant. If the statement conforms to the truth and is sufficiently complete, the trial court shall approve it for certification to the Law Court as the record on appeal. 25