State of New Hampshire v. Jessica Sanville

Opinion

THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

SUPREME COURT

In Case No. 2018-0642, State of New Hampshire v. Jessica Sanville, the court on July 11, 2019, issued the following order:

Having considered the brief, memorandum of law, and limited record submitted on appeal, we conclude that oral argument is unnecessary in this case. See Sup. Ct. R. 18(1). We affirm.

The defendant, Jessica Sanville, appeals the decision of the Circuit Court (Vetanze, J.), following a bench trial, finding her guilty of using a hand-held mobile electronic device while driving, first offense, a violation. See RSA 265:79-c (Supp. 2018). We construe her brief to argue that the evidence was insufficient to prove that she used her cellular telephone while she was driving a motor vehicle or temporarily halted in traffic on a way. See id.

The defendant, as the appealing party, has the burden to provide this court with a sufficient record to decide her issues on appeal and to demonstrate that she raised the issues in the trial court. State v. Winward, 161 N.H. 533, 542 (2011); see also Sup. Ct. R. 15(3) (“If the moving party intends to argue in the supreme court that a finding or conclusion is unsupported by the evidence or is contrary to the evidence, he shall include in the record a transcript of all evidence relevant to such finding or conclusion.”); Town of Nottingham v. Newman, 147 N.H. 131, 137 (2001) (rules of appellate practice not relaxed for self-represented litigants).

The defendant failed to provide a transcript of the trial. Absent a transcript, we must assume that the evidence was sufficient to support the trial court’s findings. See Atwood v. Owens, 142 N.H. 396, 396 (1997). Accordingly, we assume that the evidence was sufficient to support the court’s finding that she used her cellular telephone while she was driving a motor vehicle or temporarily halted in traffic on a way. See id.

Affirmed.

Lynn, C.J., and Hicks, Bassett, Hantz Marconi, and Donovan, JJ., concurred.

Eileen Fox,

Clerk