S.C. v. State
2015 Ark. App. 118
Ark. Ct. App.2015Background
- Appellant S.C. was adjudicated delinquent by the Craighead County Circuit Court for filing a false police report alleging rape and appealed, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence.
- At trial, an audio CD of a police interview with S.C. was played in open court and admitted into evidence, and text messages from S.C. to the alleged victim also were admitted and referenced by the trial court as affecting credibility.
- The appellate record lacked an official transcript of the audio interview, and no certified transcription had been prepared by the court reporter as required when recordings are used at trial.
- The addendum submitted on appeal omitted several key documents: the State’s petition charging S.C., the text-message exhibit, and a copy of the CD containing the recorded interview.
- The Court of Appeals concluded the record was deficient and remanded to the circuit court to settle and supplement the record, direct preparation of a transcript of the audio recording, and ordered S.C. to reabstract and refile a substituted brief, abstract, and addendum after supplementation.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether the appellate record is adequate to review S.C.’s sufficiency challenge | S.C.: conviction should be reviewed on the merits (sufficiency challenge) | State: relied on existing record (implicitly that record sufficed) | Record inadequate; remand to settle and supplement before reviewing merits |
| Whether a transcript of the audio interview must be prepared | S.C.: did not provide transcript; argued sufficiency without it | State: no on-record waiver shown that transcript was unnecessary | Transcript must be prepared/certified by court reporter within 30 days |
| Whether the addendum must include non-transcript exhibits (petition, text messages, CD) | S.C.: failed to include these items in addendum | State: previous brief remained available but addendum omissions problematic | Court ordered inclusion of the State’s petition, the text-message exhibit, and the CD in the addendum |
| Whether rebriefing is required after the record is supplemented | S.C.: initial briefs filed despite omissions | State: may rely on prior brief or revise after supplementation | Ordered S.C. to file substituted brief/abstract/addendum within 15 days of supplementation; State may revise within 15 days thereafter |
Key Cases Cited
- Dillard v. State, 2012 Ark. App. 503 (remanding to settle the record where no transcript of an introduced 911 recording had been prepared or waived)
- Copeland v. State, 2013 Ark. App. 6 (ordering rebriefing where a recorded police interview was played at trial but not abstracted and the disc was not included in the addendum)
- Sims v. State, 2015 Ark. App. 11 (ordering rebriefing where appellant failed to include petitions for revocation in the addendum)
- Massey v. State, 2010 Ark. App. 683 (ordering rebriefing where an amended information was omitted from the record on appeal)