III § 7 Criminal Records

Records in criminal cases shall contain the following in the listed order:

A. Indices of filings, oral testimony, documents, and exhibits (as required by Section 4 of this Rule);

B. Typed copies of minute entries, showing in chronological order the opening of court, the impaneling of the grand jury by which the indictment (if the prosecution was by indictment) was found, the various lists of challenges for cause, peremptory challenges, petit jurors selected, all evidence, and all witnesses, the times the jury went out and returned, and the jury's verdict;

C. The indictment or bill of information, all pleas, demurrers, and motions and orders, including the verdict and sentence, in the order in which they were filed, made, returned, or imposed;

D. The assignments of error in numerical order and the trial judge's per curiams, if any, which should follow each assignment of error. If the evidence necessary to form a basis for an assignment of error has been transcribed elsewhere in the record, such as in a full transcript of the trial, it may be incorporated by reference to the appropriate page numbers of the transcript or record, so as to dispense with unnecessary duplication in the record;

E. The transcript of oral evidence at the trial and at any preliminary hearing, if made part of the record, each being prepared as in the case of transcripts for civil appeals (see Section 6(G) of this Rule);

In capital cases in which a sentence of death has been imposed and appealed to this Court, the record shall conform to the other requirements of this Section and shall also contain, in addition to a complete transcript of the oral evidence offered at the guilt and penalty phases of trial, transcripts of the following: all pretrial evidentiary hearings in chronological order in which they occurred; voir dire examination of prospective jurors in its entirety; opening statements of counsel at the beginning of the guilt phase; closing arguments of counsel at the guilt phase and the state's rebuttal argument; the lower court's jury instructions at the guilt phase and the jury's return of its verdict(s); opening statements of counsel at the penalty phase; closing arguments of counsel at the penalty phase and the state's rebuttal argument; the lower court's jury instructions at the penalty phase and the jury's return of its sentencing determination(s). The transcripts of pretrial hearings shall conform to the requirements of Section 6(G) above, and the transcript of voir dire examination shall identify each prospective juror by name as he or she is questioned and the party litigant conducting the examination. The district judge in the court in which the case was tried shall retain all notes and video and audio recordings of the proceedings as the property of the court and, as to appeals in capital cases only, shall certify that the record conforms to the requirements of this Section before it is lodged in this Court;

F. Exhibits not included in the bound volumes of the record, prepared as in the case of civil appeals (see Section 6(H) of this Rule); and

G. In all cases appealed to this Court from a judgment rendered in a criminal case by a parish, city or municipal court, wherein the testimony of witnesses was electronically recorded, such electronic recording shall, before lodging of the appeal in this Court, be transcribed, and a certified copy of the original transcription and either the one or two duplicates shall be prepared and filed in accordance with the foregoing sections of this Rule.