In this case, appellant alleged that an explosion, which destroyed hеr home on September 22, 1999, was caused by appellee’s negligencе. Appellee had been to appellant’s home earlier that day to refill her propane tank. The explosion occurred just after appellant checked the lines in her appliances by running a Bic lighter оver them. After a trial, the jury assigned eighty percent of the fault to appеllant and twenty percent to appeb.ee. On appeal, appebant makes three evidentiary arguments: 1) that the trial court impropеrly
In our review of this case, we have discovered that appebant’s 444-page Addendum contains nearly 300 pages of material that bear no relation to the issues in this case or our understanding оf them. For example, the Addendum includes 179 pages of medical records, but neither the amount of appebant’s damages nor her medical condition are at issue on appeal. Further, the Addendum contains eighty-one pаges regarding the deposition testimony of appebant’s expert Rex White; however, there is no issue on appeal that involves White, who did not evеn testify at trial. Addition-aby, another thirty pages of the Addendum concern the valuе of lost property and lost wages or other matters that are not at issuе on appeal. We also note that several pages of aрpebant’s Abstract are devoted to these same subjects.
An appebant’s Addendum shab include a copy of the order appealed from, “along with any other relevant pleadings, documents, or exhibits essential to an undеrstanding of the case and the Court’s jurisdiction on appeal.” Ark. R. Sup. Ct. 4-2(a)(8) (2002) (emphasis added). The appebant’s Abstract should consist of “only such material parts of the testimony of the witnesses and colloquies between the court аnd counsel and other parties as are necessary to an understanding of all questions presented to the Court for decision.” Ark. R. Sup. Ct. 4-2(a)(5) (2002) (emphasis added). Appebant’s Addendum and Abstract fab to comply with these rules. The emphasized portions of these rules reflect an obligation by an appebant, in рreparing her Addendum, to not merely copy the record but give some thought to whether the materials in the Addendum will be useful to the court in deciding the issues on appeal.
Although we are mindful that the decision of what to include in an Addendum or Abstract may be a difficult one and that counsel will often err on the side of inclusion, the Addendum and Abstract in this case contain an inordinate amount of material that cannot conceivably be said to bear any relevance tо the issues on appeal or be helpful to our understanding of the casе. Had appellant filed a proper brief, its current size would be reducеd by nearly two-thirds.
For the reasons stated, and pursuant to Ark. R. Sup. Ct. 4-2(b)(3) (2002), we afford appellant the opportunity to file a substituted Abstract, Addendum, and Brief within fifteen days of the date of this per curiam.
Rebriefing ordered.