Article I, Rule 10(b)(1) of the Supreme Court Rules of Appellate Procedure requires that “[w]ithin twenty (20) days after filing the notice of appeal the appellant shall order from the reporter a transcript of such parts of the proceedings not already on file as the appellant deems necessary for inclusion in the record.” In In re Estate of Glenn E. Griggs, No. 2012-19-Appeal, the appellants had indicated on their notices of appeal that they would order a transcript, but they never did so, nor did they inform the Court that they would proceed without a transcript. Based on those failures, the appellee filed a motion to dismiss the appeal. Id. at 4.
The Supreme Court addressed the appellee’s motion at the outset of its decision on the merits of appellant’s appeal. In so doing, the Supreme Court explained “it is the responsibility of an appellant who fails to order a transcript after indicating that he or she would do so, to inform the Court that he or she will not order a transcript.” Id. at 5. Nevertheless, the Court denied the appellee’s motion, holding that “[w]hile it is regrettable that appellants did not inform the court that they had decided not to order a transcript, that failure does not prevent us from reaching the merits in this particular case.” Id. In so holding, the Supreme Court concluded that the appeals concerned a question of law that appeared sufficiently on the Superior Court record. Id.
