State Ex Rel. Kisner v. Fox

Neely, Chief Justice:

This prohibition proceeding presents an opportunity to address a problem that, fortunately, has been a rare occurrence in our State, namely, what happens when the State cannot produce the transcript of a criminal trial because the court reporter’s notes have been lost? We hold that absent extraordinary dereliction on the part of the State, the defendant is not entitled to discharge, but will have the option of appealing on the basis of a reconstructed record, or of being tried again.

Relator, Larry Stephen Kisner, was tried and convicted of sexual assault in the first…