Rule 80 Stenographic Report or Transcript as Evidence

If a witness testified at an earlier trial or hearing and someone typed up a word for word record of it, that written record can be used as evidence later. This comes up when the same testimony needs to be used again in a future trial.

To use it this way, the transcript has to be certified by the person who originally reported or typed it. This means the court reporter confirms that the transcript is accurate and complete. Once it's certified, the transcript itself can stand in as proof of what the witness said, without needing to bring that witness back to testify again.

This rule helps save time and avoids problems that come up when a witness is unavailable for a later trial, such as if they moved away, passed away, or simply cannot appear again. As long as the transcript is properly certified, courts can treat it as reliable evidence of the earlier testimony.