ITEM 3A | OVERVIEW OF THE RECORD ON APPEAL
Most of the information an appellate party needs to know about the contents, timing, and requirements for the record on appeal can be found in Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure 9.200 (the record), 9.140 (criminal appeals), 9.141 (postconviction appeals), 9.180 (workers’ compensation), and 9.900 (appellate forms). This chapter provides a general overview of these rules. It first addresses rule 9.200 and the appellate record generally. It will also address some of the main differences for a few of the different types of cases and appeals. An appellate party should remember that this chapter simply provides an overview of general requirements. Because there are important differences between the specific rules of procedure that apply to different types of cases and appeals (like civil, criminal, postconviction, workers' compensation, administrative, etc.), appellate parties must carefully study the specific rules of procedure that apply to the type case and type of appeal they are filing.
The record on appeal generally includes all of the pleadings, motions, documents, and exhibits that were filed in the lower tribunal or trial court. Fla. R. App. P. 9.200(a)(1). It also includes copies of the orders entered by the lower tribunal and transcripts of any hearings or trials. The record gives the appellate court a history of the case, and it is limited to what was actually filed in and considered by the lower tribunal. Parties cannot add new evidence or documents that were not filed with the lower tribunal prior to entry of the order being appealed.
Depositions and other discovery are only included in the record on appeal if a party filed them in the trial court before the order being appealed was entered. Physical evidence, meaning the actual object(s) entered into evidence (for example, a gun), is typically not included in the record on appeal at all. There are also some types of routine documents that usually will not be included in the record because they usually will not be relevant to the appeal. Such documents include as summonses, praecipes, subpoenas, returns of service, and notices of hearing or depositions. A summons is a document served on defendants which notifies them of the lawsuit and what initial actions they need to take to defend against it. A return of service is the proof that the summons was properly served on the defendant. A praecipe is somewhat like a summons, but it tells the defendant to do something or to show why he or she has not done it. These types of documents will not be automatically included in the record. If these items are relevant in the specific appeal, a party will need to ask the clerk to include them in the record. Fla. R. App. P. 9.200(a)(1). For example, an appellant would want to ask the clerk to include the summons and any return of service documents in the appellate record if he or she wanted to argue on appeal that the judgment is invalid because the original service of the summons and lawsuit papers was invalid such that he or she did not receive proper notice of the lawsuit.
An appellate court cannot review what happened in the lower tribunal without a record. See Applegate v. Barnett Bank of Tallahassee, 377 So. 2d 1150, 1152 (Fla. 1979). An appellate court generally presumes that the lower tribunal’s decision is correct (the "presumption of correctness"), unless the person who filed the appeal can clearly show that the lower tribunal made some type of harmful error or mistake or that the rule or law in question is illegal or unconstitutional. Without a complete record, the appellate court is limited to correcting errors that are apparent on the face of the order on appeal. See, e.g., Chirino v. Chirino, 710 So. 2d 696 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998). The party who filed the appeal and who is asking the appellate court to reverse, remand, or correct the lower tribunal's decision, is the party responsible for making sure the appellate court has everything it needs to review the lower tribunal’s decision based on what happened below. Fla. R. App. P. 9.200(e).
You might need to reference it during your pursuit of justice.
For instance, you might need to examine this handbook in order to protect yourself from judges/lawyers/organizations who break the law (see this example of a Florida judge who outright committed perjury).
Nevertheless – and as always – please get the justice you deserve.
Sincerely,
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