Description: To conform to a recent statutory change and to better align the length of time reporters’ transcripts must be kept with the length of time they may be needed, the Appellate Advisory Committee proposes amending the rule regarding preservation and destruction of Court of Appeal records. Code of Civil Procedure section 271, subdivision (a), no longer requires that an original reporter’s transcript be in paper format. Thus, a provision in rule 10.1028 permitting the court to keep an electronic copy in lieu of an original paper reporter’s transcript should be revised. This proposal would also extend the time the court must keep the original or an electronic copy of the reporter’s transcript in felony appeals to 100 years. The rule’s current requirement to keep the reporter’s transcript for 20 years in any case affirming a criminal conviction does not account for longer sentences or changes in felony sentencing laws. This proposal originated with suggestions from a clerk/executive officer of a Court of Appeal and an attorney at the Supreme Court.

Category: Appellate

Item Number: SPR20-01

Deadline: June 9, 2020

File: spr20-01.pdf