2013 California Rules of Court
Rule 8.837. Statement on appeal
(a) Description
A statement on appeal is a summary of the trial court proceedings that is approved by the trial court. An appellant can elect under rule 8.831 to use a statement on appeal as the record of the oral proceedings in the trial court, replacing the reporter's transcript.
(b) Preparing the proposed statement
(1)
If the appellant elects in its notice designating the record under rule 8.831 to use a statement on appeal, the appellant must serve and file a proposed statement within 20 days after filing the notice under rule 8.831. If the appellant does not file a proposed statement within this time, the trial court clerk must promptly notify the appellant by mail that it must file the proposed statement within 15 days after the notice is mailed and that failure to comply will result in the appeal being dismissed.
(2)Appellants who are not represented by an attorney must file their proposed statement on Statement on Appeal (Limited Civil Case) (form APP-104). For good cause, the court may permit the filing of a statement that is not on form APP-104.
(c) Contents of the proposed statement
The proposed statement must contain:
(1)A condensed narrative of the oral proceedings that the appellant believes necessary for the appeal and a summary of the trial court's holding and judgment. Subject to the court's approval, the appellant may present some or all of the evidence by question and answer.
(2)A statement of the points the appellant is raising on appeal. If the condensed narrative under (A) covers only a portion of the oral proceedings, then the appeal is limited to the points identified in the statement unless, on motion, the appellate division permits otherwise.
(A)The statement must specify the intended grounds of appeal by clearly stating each point to be raised but need not identify each particular ruling or matter to be challenged.
(B)The statement must include as much of the evidence or proceeding as necessary to support the stated grounds. Any evidence or portion of a proceeding not included will be presumed to support the judgment or order appealed from.
(C)If one of the grounds of appeal is insufficiency of the evidence, the statement must specify how it is insufficient.
(D)If one of the grounds of appeal challenges the giving, refusal, or modification of a jury instruction, the statement must include any instructions submitted orally and identify the party that requested the instruction and any modification.
(d) Review of the appellant's proposed statement
(1)Within 10 days after the appellant files the proposed statement, the respondent may serve and file proposed amendments to that statement.
(2)No later than 10 days after the respondent files proposed amendments or the time to do so expires, a party may request a hearing to review and correct the proposed statement. No hearing will be held unless ordered by the trial court judge, and the judge will not ordinarily order a hearing unless there is a factual dispute about a material aspect of the trial court proceedings.
(3)If a hearing is ordered, the court must promptly set the hearing date and provide the parties with at least 5 days' written notice of the hearing date.
(4)Except as provided in (6), if no hearing is ordered, no later than 10 days after the time for requesting a hearing expires, the trial court judge must review the proposed statement and any proposed amendments and make any corrections or modifications to the statement necessary to ensure that it is an accurate summary of the trial court proceedings. If a hearing is ordered, the trial court judge must make any corrections or modifications to the statement within 10 days after the hearing.
(5)The trial court judge must not eliminate the appellant's specification of grounds of appeal from the proposed statement.
(6)If the trial court proceedings were reported by a court reporter or officially electronically recorded under Government Code section 69957 and the trial court judge determines that it would save court time and resources, instead of correcting a proposed statement on appeal:
(A)If the court has a local rule for the appellate division permitting the use of an official electronic recording as the record of the oral proceedings, the trial court judge may order that the original of an official electronic recording of the trial court proceedings, or a copy made by the court, be transmitted as the record of these oral proceedings without being transcribed. The court will pay for any copy of the official electronic recording ordered under this subdivision; or
(B)Unless the court has a local rule providing otherwise, the trial court judge may order that a transcript be prepared as the record of the oral proceedings. The court will pay for any transcript ordered under this subdivision.
(e) Review of the corrected statement
(1)If the trial court judge makes any corrections or modifications to the proposed statement under (d), the clerk must send copies of the corrected or modified statement to the parties.
(2)Within 10 days after the statement is sent to the parties, any party may serve and file proposed modifications or objections to the statement.
(f) Certification of the statement on appeal
(1)If the trial court judge does not make any corrections or modifications to the proposed statement under (d)(4) and does not order either the use of an official electronic recording or the preparation of a transcript in lieu of correcting the proposed statement under (d)(6), the judge must promptly certify the statement.
(2)If the trial court judge corrects or modifies an appellant's proposed statement under (d), within five days after the time for filing proposed modifications or objections has expired, the judge must review any proposed modifications or objections to the statement filed by the parties, make any corrections or modifications to the statement necessary to ensure that it is an accurate summary of the trial court proceedings, and certify the statement.
Rule 8.837 adopted effective January 1, 2009.
Advisory Committee Comment
Subdivision (b). Proposed Statement on Appeal (Limited Civil Case) (form AP-104) is available at any courthouse or county law library or online at www.courtinfo.ca.gov/forms.
Subdivision (d). Under rule 8.804, the term "judge" includes a commissioner or a temporary judge.