2024 California Rules of Court
Rule 8.610. Contents and form of the record
(a) Contents of the record
(1) The record must include a clerk's transcript containing:
(A) The accusatory pleading and any amendment;
(B) Any demurrer or other plea;
(C) All court minutes;
(D) All instructions submitted in writing, the cover page required by rule 2.1055(b)(2) indicating the party requesting each instruction, and any written jury instructions given by the court;
(E) Any written communication, including printouts of any e-mail or text messages and their attachments, between the court and the parties, the jury, or any individual juror or prospective juror;
(F) Any verdict;
(G) Any written opinion of the court;
(H) The judgment or order appealed from and any abstract of judgment or commitment;
(I) Any motion for new trial, with supporting and opposing memoranda and attachments;
(J) Any transcript of a sound or sound-and-video recording furnished to the jury or tendered to the court under rule 2.1040, including witness statements;
(K) Any application for additional record and any order on the application;
(L) Any written defense motion or any written motion by the People, with supporting and opposing memoranda and attachments;
(M) If related to a motion under (L), any search warrant and return and the reporter's transcript of any preliminary examination or grand jury hearing;
(N) Any document admitted in evidence to prove a prior juvenile adjudication, criminal conviction, or prison term;
(O) The probation officer's report;
(P) Any court-ordered diagnostic or psychological report required under Penal Code section 1369;
(Q) Any copies of visual aids provided to the clerk under rule 4.230(f). If a visual aid is oversized, a photograph of that visual aid must be included in place of the original. For digital or electronic presentations, printouts showing the full text of each slide or image must be included;
(R) Each juror questionnaire, whether or not the juror was selected;
(S) The table correlating the jurors' names with their identifying numbers required by rule 8.611;
(T) The register of actions;
(U) All documents filed under Penal Code section 987.2 or 987.9; and
(V) Any other document filed or lodged in the case.
(2) The record must include a reporter's transcript containing:
(A) The oral proceedings on the entry of any plea other than a not guilty plea;
(B) The oral proceedings on any motion in limine;
(C) The voir dire examination of jurors;
(D) Any opening statement;
(E) The oral proceedings at trial;
(F) All instructions given orally;
(G) Any oral communication between the court and the jury or any individual juror;
(H) Any oral opinion of the court;
(I) The oral proceedings on any motion for new trial;
(J) The oral proceedings at sentencing, granting or denying of probation, or other dispositional hearing;
(K) The oral proceedings on any motion under Penal Code section 1538.5 denied in whole or in part;
(L) The closing arguments;
(M) Any comment on the evidence by the court to the jury;
(N) The oral proceedings on motions in addition to those listed above; and
(O) Any other oral proceedings in the case, including any proceedings that did not result in a verdict or sentence of death because the court ordered a mistrial or a new trial.
(3) All exhibits admitted in evidence, refused, or lodged are deemed part of the record, but, except as provided in rule 8.622, may be transmitted to the reviewing court only as provided in rule 8.634.
(4) The superior court or the Supreme Court may order that the record include additional material.
(Subd (a) amended effective April 25, 2019; previously amended effective January 1, 2007.)
(b) Sealed and confidential records
Rules 8.45-8.47 govern sealed and confidential records in appeals under this chapter.
(Subd (b) amended effective April 25, 2019; previously amended effective January 1, 2007, and January 1, 2014.)
(c) Juror-identifying information
Any document in the record containing juror-identifying information must be edited in compliance with rule 8.611. Unedited copies of all such documents and a copy of the table required by the rule, under seal and bound together if filed in paper form, must be included in the record sent to the Supreme Court.
(Subd (c) amended effective April 25, 2019; previously amended effective January 1, 2007, and January 1, 2016.)
(d) Form of record
The clerk's transcript and the reporter's transcript must comply with rules 8.45-8.47, relating to sealed and confidential records, and rule 8.144.
(Subd (d) amended effective January 1, 2014; previously amended effective January 1, 2005; and January 1, 2007.)
Rule 8.610 amended effective April 25, 2019; adopted as rule 34.1 effective January 1, 2004; previously amended and renumbered as rule 8.610 effective January 1, 2007; previously amended effective January 1, 2005, January 1, 2014, and January 1, 2016
Advisory Committee Comment
Subdivision (a). Subdivision (a) implements Penal Code section 190.7(a).
Subdivision (b). The clerk's and reporter's transcripts may contain records that are sealed or confidential. Rules 8.45-8.47 address the handling of such records, including requirements for the format, labeling, and transmission of and access to such records. Examples of confidential records include Penal Code section 1203.03 diagnostic reports, records closed to inspection by court order under People v. Marsden (1970) 2 Cal.3d 118 or Pitchess v. Superior Court (1974) 11 Cal.3d 531, in-camera proceedings on a confidential informant, and defense investigation and expert funding requests (Pen. Code, §§ 987.2 and 987.9; Puett v. Superior Court (1979) 96 Cal.App.3d 936, 940, fn. 2; Keenan v. Superior Court (1982) 31 Cal.3d 424, 430).