People v. Lorenzo
People v. Lorenzo
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
On September 11 of this year there was filed in the office of the secretary of this court a certificate issued by the secretary of the District Court of Humacao containing the transcript of the record of case No. 1385 prosecuted in that court by The People of Porto Rico against Antolino Lorenzo for violation of the internal-revenue laws, from which transcript it appears that on March 5 last the said court rendered a judgment of conviction against the aforesaid Antolino Lorenzo.
The defendant failed to file an assignment of errors in this court, and after the fiscal of this court had filed his brief on October 14 following, the hearing was set for the 29th of the same month, but was later continued to November 8, on which day the fiscal of this court and an attorney for the defendant, Antolino Lorenzo, appeared.
When the hearing was about to commence we permitted the appellant’s attorney, at his own request, to amend the record by the addition thereto of a certificate which he presented relative to certain particulars of said case and issued by the secretary of the District Court of ITumacao. The fiscal in closing his argument called the attention of the court to the fact that the transcript did not contain a notice of appeal, wherefore this court had no jurisdiction oyer the case. After this statement was made counsel for the defendant asked for time to introduce a certificate containing the notice of appeal which he had filed in the court below.
We have carefully examined the papers which form the transcript of the record forwarded by the secretary of the District Court of Humacao and the certificate introduced by counsel for Antolino Lorenzo, and have found no document showing that Antolino Lorenzo appealed from the sentence pronounced against him.
The notice of appeal is so necessary that it cannot be dispensed with although the statement of the case may recite that said statement is filed by virtue of an appeal, or although it may be shown in any other incidental manner that an appeal exists.
It is true that in treating of appeals in criminal cases the law does not impose upon the appellant the duty of preparing the transcript of the record and that this duty falls upon the secretary of the district court, but, at any rate, the appellant, being interested in the success of bis appeal, should see that before the hearing takes pMce the transcript contains all the documents necessary'for the rendition of judgment and that any omission or error which the secretary may have committed is corrected. This principle was not unknown to An-tolino Lorenzo’s attorney for he corrected other defects of the transcript by means of the certificate presented by him and admitted by us at the hearing, though he did not correct the lack of notice of appeal.
Appeal dismissed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.