Greaton v. Greaton, 2012 ME 17

Darin R. Greaton appeals a divorce judgment in Augusta awarding shared primary residence and ordering child support.
Greaton challenged the trial court’s exclusion of two expert witnesses and quashing of a subpoena for another witness.
Greaton filed the appeal without a transcript of the three-day hearing despite it being recorded.
The court discusses record adequacy and the need to create or substitute an adequate record for appeal.
The Supreme Judicial Court affirms the judgment and remands for costs and attorney fees determination.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Adequacy of appellate record	Greaton lacked an adequate record due to no transcript.	Record could be supplemented by appendix or approved statements; transcripts not provided.	Record insufficiency; affirm judgment but remand for cost/fees determination.
Effect of evidentiary rulings on judgment	Exclusion of experts and subpoena quashings were erroneous and prejudicial.	No demonstrated link between rulings and final judgment; no prejudice shown.	No reversible error shown due to lack of demonstrated prejudice.
Sanctions for frivolous appeal	None stated beyond asserting errors; appeal merits review.	Appeal without adequate record is inappropriate and costly.	Sanctions not imposed; remand to determine costs/fees for the appeal.

Springer v. Springer, 2009 ME 118 (Me. 2009) (adequacy of record for review when transcript unavailable)
State v. Hughes, 2004 ME 141 (Me. 2004) (transcripts or approved statements needed for review)
Town of Porter v. Elevens, 2009 ME 48 (Me. 2009) (frivolous appeals and resource considerations)
Edwards v. Campbell, 2008 ME 173 (Me. 2008) (appeal resources and costs considerations)
Marshall v. Webber, 2008 ME 126 (Me. 2008) (attorney fees and costs on appeal)
Rothstein v. Maloney, 2002 ME 179 (Me. 2002) (appellate practice and record requirements)
Cheoros v. Cheoros, 1997 ME 37 (Me. 1997) (statutory authority for attorney fees in divorce appeals)