California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 365

Introduced by Assembly Member Mullin

February 14, 2013

An act to amend Sections 273 and 2025.510 of the Code of Civil Procedure, and to amend Section 69957 of the Government Code, relating to court reporting.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 365, as introduced, Mullin. Court reporting.

Existing law provides that the report of the official court reporter or official court reporter pro tempore, of any court, duly appointed and sworn, when transcribed and certified as being a correct transcript of the testimony and proceedings in the case, is prima facie evidence of that testimony and proceeding.

This bill would require that the report be transcribed and certified by a certified shorthand reporter, as defined, in order to qualify as prima facie evidence of that testimony and proceeding.

Existing law requires that, unless the parties agree otherwise, the testimony at any deposition recorded by stenographic means shall be transcribed. If testimony at the deposition is recorded both stenographically, and by audio or video technology, the stenographic transcript is the official record of that testimony for the purpose of the trial and any subsequent hearing or appeal.

This bill would clarify that the testimony recorded stenographically at the deposition is recorded by a certified shorthand reporter, as defined.

Existing law authorizes a court to order the use of electronic recording of an action or proceeding where an official reporter or an official reporter pro tempore is unavailable to report an action or proceeding in a court in a limited civil case, a misdemeanor case, or an infraction case, as prescribed. A transcript derived from an electronic recording is authorized to be utilized whenever a transcript of court proceedings is required.

This bill would require that the electronic recording be transcribed by a certified shorthand reporter, as defined, in order to be utilized whenever a transcript of court proceedings is required.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 273 of the Code of Civil Procedure, as
amended by Section 1 of Chapter 87 of the Statutes of 2009, is
amended to read:

273.  

(a) The report of the official reporter, or official reporter
pro tempore, of any court, duly appointed and sworn, when
transcribed and certified begin insert by a certified shorthand reporter, end insert as being
a correct transcript of the testimony and proceedings in the case,
is prima facie evidence of that testimony and proceedings.

(b) The report of the official reporter, or official reporter pro
tempore, of any court, duly appointed and sworn, when prepared
as a rough draft transcript, shall not be certified and cannot be
used, cited, distributed, or transcribed as the official certified
transcript of the proceedings. A rough draft transcript shall not be
cited or used in any way or at any time to rebut or contradict the
official certified transcript of the proceedings as provided by the
official reporter or official reporter pro tempore. The production
of a rough draft transcript shall not be required.

(c) The instant visual display of the testimony or proceedings,
or both, shall not be certified and cannot be used, cited, distributed,
or transcribed as the official certified transcript of the proceedings.
The instant visual display of the testimony or proceedings, or both,
shall not be cited or used in any way or at any time to rebut or
contradict the official certified transcript of the proceedings as
provided by the official reporter or official reporter pro tempore.

begin insert

(d) For purposes of this section, “certified shorthand reporter”
has the same meaning as Section 8018 of the Business and
Professions Code.

end insert begin delete

(d)

end delete

begin insert (e) end insert  This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2017,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before January 1, 2017, deletes or extends that date.

SEC. 2.  

Section 273 of the Code of Civil Procedure, as added
by Section 2 of Chapter 87 of the Statutes of 2009, is amended to
read:

273.  

(a) The report of the official reporter, or official reporter
pro tempore, of any court, duly appointed and sworn, when
transcribed and certified begin insert by a certified shorthand reporter, end insert as being
a correct transcript of the testimony and proceedings in the case,
is prima facie evidence of that testimony and proceedings.

(b) The report of the official reporter, or official reporter pro
tempore, of any court, duly appointed and sworn, when prepared
as a rough draft transcript, shall not be certified and cannot be
used, cited, distributed, or transcribed as the official certified
transcript of the proceedings. A rough draft transcript shall not be
cited or used in any way or at any time to rebut or contradict the
official certified transcript of the proceedings as provided by the
official reporter or official reporter pro tempore. The production
of a rough draft transcript shall not be required.

begin insert

(c) For purposes of this section, “certified shorthand reporter”
has the same meaning as Section 8018 of the Business and
Professions Code.

end insert begin delete

(c)

end delete

begin insert (d) end insert  This section shall become operative on January 1, 2017.

SEC. 3.  

Section 2025.510 of the Code of Civil Procedure is
amended to read:

2025.510.  

(a) Unless the parties agree otherwise, the testimony
at any deposition recorded by stenographic means shall be
transcribed.

(b)  The party noticing the deposition shall bear the cost of that
transcription, unless the court, on motion and for good cause
shown, orders that the cost be borne or shared by another party.

(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (b) of Section 2025.320, any
other party or the deponent, at the expense of that party or
deponent, may obtain a copy of the transcript.

(d) If the deposition officer receives a request from a party for
an original or a copy of the deposition transcript, or any portion
thereof, and the full or partial transcript will be available to that
party prior to the time the original or copy would be available to
any other party, the deposition officer shall immediately notify all
other parties attending the deposition of the request, and shall,
upon request by any party other than the party making the original
request, make that copy of the full or partial deposition transcript
available to all parties at the same time.

(e) Stenographic notes of depositions shall be retained by the
reporter for a period of not less than eight years from the date of
the deposition, where no transcript is produced, and not less than
one year from the date on which the transcript is produced. Those
notes may be either on paper or electronic media, as long as it
allows for satisfactory production of a transcript at any time during
the periods specified.

(f) At the request of any other party to the action, including a
party who did not attend the taking of the deposition testimony,
any party who records or causes the recording of that testimony
by means of audio or video technology shall promptly do both of
the following:

(1) Permit that other party to hear the audio recording or to view
the video recording.

(2) Furnish a copy of the audio or video recording to that other
party on receipt of payment of the reasonable cost of making that
copy of the recording.

(g) If the testimony at the deposition is recorded both
stenographically begin insert by a certified shorthand reporter end insert , and by audio
or video technology, the stenographic transcript is the official
record of that testimony for the purpose of the trial and any
subsequent hearing or appeal.

(h) (1) The requesting attorney or party appearing in propria
persona shall timely pay the deposition officer or the entity
providing the services of the deposition officer for the transcription
or copy of the transcription described in subdivision (b) or (c), and
any other deposition products or services that are requested either
orally or in writing.

(2) This subdivision shall apply unless responsibility for the
payment is otherwise provided by law or unless the deposition
officer or entity is notified in writing at the time the services or
products are requested that the party or another identified person
will be responsible for payment.

(3) This subdivision does not prohibit or supersede an agreement
between an attorney and a party allocating responsibility for the
payment of deposition costs to the party.

(4) The requesting attorney or party appearing in propria
persona, upon the written request of a deposition officer who has
obtained a final judgment for payment of services provided
pursuant to this subdivision, shall provide to the deposition officer
an address that can be used to effectuate service for the purpose
of Section 708.110 in the manner specified in Section 415.10.

(i) For purposes of this section, “deposition product or service”
means any product or service provided in connection with a
deposition that qualifies as shorthand reporting, as described in
Section 8017 of the Business and Professions Code, and any
product or service derived from that shorthand reporting.

begin insert

(j) For purposes of this section, “certified shorthand reporter”
has the same meaning as Section 8018 of the Business and
Professions Code.

end insert

SEC. 4.  

Section 69957 of the Government Code is amended
to read:

69957.  

(a) If an official reporter or an official reporter pro
tempore is unavailable to report an action or proceeding in a court,
subject to the availability of approved equipment and equipment
monitors, the court may order that, in a limited civil case, or a
misdemeanor or infraction case, the action or proceeding be
electronically recorded, including all the testimony, the objections
made, the ruling of the court, the exceptions taken, all arraignments,
pleas, and sentences of defendants in criminal cases, the arguments
of the attorneys to the jury, and all statements and remarks made
and oral instructions given by the judge. A transcript derived from
an electronic recording begin insert transcribed by a certified shorthand
reporter end insert may be utilized whenever a transcript of court proceedings
is required. Transcripts derived from electronic recordings shall
include a designation of “inaudible” or “unintelligible” for those
portions of the recording that contain no audible sound or are not
discernible. The electronic recording device and appurtenant
equipment shall be of a type approved by the Judicial Council for
courtroom use and shall only be purchased for use as provided by
this section. A court shall not expend funds for or use electronic
recording technology or equipment to make an unofficial record
of an action or proceeding, including for purposes of judicial
notetaking, or to make the official record of an action or proceeding
in circumstances not authorized by this section.

(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a court may use electronic
recording equipment for the internal personnel purpose of
monitoring the performance of subordinate judicial officers, as
defined in Section 71601 of the Government Code, hearing officers,
and temporary judges while proceedings are conducted in the
courtroom, if notice is provided to the subordinate judicial officer,
hearing officer, or temporary judge, and to the litigants, that the
proceeding may be recorded for that purpose. An electronic
recording made for the purpose of monitoring that performance
shall not be used for any other purpose and shall not be made
publicly available. Any recording made pursuant to this subdivision
shall be destroyed two years after the date of the proceeding unless
a personnel matter is pending relating to performance of the
subordinate judicial officer, hearing officer, or temporary judge.

(c) Prior to purchasing or leasing any electronic recording
technology or equipment, a court shall obtain advance approval
from the Judicial Council, which may grant that approval only if
the use of the technology or equipment will be consistent with this
section.

begin insert

(d) For purposes of this section, “certified shorthand reporter”
has the same meaning as Section 8018 of the Business and
Professions Code.

end insert