This question has been addressed in 1 Texas court opinion:
COA08 — February 20, 2026
In Alazzawi v. Algharrawi, a husband appealed a divorce decree and protective order, only to discover that the court reporter's stenographic files were corrupted and the Zoom recording of the trial failed to capture the audible English translations of his wife’s Arabic testimony. The Eighth Court of Appeals analyzed the case under Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 34.6(f), which requires a new trial if a significant portion of the record is lost through no fault of the appellant and is necessary to the appeal. Because the missing testimony was the primary evidence for the trial court’s judgment and the parties could not agree on a replacement translation, the court held that a mandatory new trial was required, reversing the original judgment and remanding the cause.
Litigation Takeaway
“Technical failures during remote hearings—especially those involving foreign language interpreters—can be fatal to a judgment; if the official English translation is not clearly recorded and the parties cannot agree on a reconstruction, a complete "do-over" of the trial is mandatory.”