The constructed voice in courtroom cross-examination
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsll.v22i2.17895Keywords:
courtroom discourse, constructed dialogue, reported speech, cross-examinationAbstract
This article examines the evidential and evaluative functions of ‘constructed dialogue’ (Tannen 1989), also called direct reported speech, in the cross-examination of two defendants in a US civil suit. The lawsuit is brought against two detention officers who were on duty when the plaintiff’s husband, an inmate at a prison, died from meningitis. The plaintiff’s attorney constructs the dialogue of the defendants in an ‘alternate reality’ to suggest what the defendants should have done but failed to do to help, thereby providing evidence for his argument that the defendants acted unreasonably and inviting the jury to evaluate the defendants’ conduct as indifferent and blameworthy. The attorney also imputes dialogue to the defendants and other individuals involved in the case, again providing evidence for his claims and leading the jury to evaluate the defendants’ conduct as morally reprehensible and legally culpable.References
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Bakhtin, M. M. (1981) Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays by M. M. Bakhtin (trans. C. Emerson and M. Holquist). Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
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Danet, B., Hoffman, K. B., Kermish, N. C., Rafn, H. J. and Stayman, D. G. (1980) An ethnography of questioning in the courtroom. In R. W. Shuy (ed.) Language Use and the Uses of Language 222–234. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
De Fina, A. (2003) Identity in Narrative: A Study of Immigrant Discourse. Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/sin.3
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Drew, P. (1998) Complaints about transgressions and misconduct. Research on Language and Social Interaction 31: 295–325.
Eades, D. (2000) ‘I don’t think it’s an answer to the question’: Silencing Aboriginal witnesses in court. Language in Society 29: 161–195. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0047404500002013
Fasulo, A. and Zucchermaglio, C. (2008) Narratives in the workplace: facts, fictions, and canonicity. Text & Talk 28: 351–376. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/TEXT.2008.017
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Goffman, E. (1981) Forms of Talk. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
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Hobbs, P. (2003) ‘You must say it for him’: Reformulating a witness’ testimony on cross examination at trial. Text 23(4): 477–511. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/text.2003.019
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Matoesian, G. M. (1993) Reproducing Rape: Domination through Talk in the Courtroom. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Matoesian, G. M. (2001) Intertextuality, reported speech, and affect. In Law and the Language of Identity 105–132. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Mauet, T. (1980) Fundamentals of Trial Techniques. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company.
Penman, R. (1987) Discourse in courts: cooperation, coercion, and coherence. Discourse Processes 10: 449–481. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01638538709544672
Perrin, T. L., Caldwell, H. M. and Chase, C. A. (2003) The Art and Science of Trial Advocacy. Cincinnati, OH: Anderson.
Philips, S. (1986) Reported speech as evidence in an American trial. In D. Tannen and J .E. Alatis (eds) Languages and Linguistics: The Interdependence of Theory, Data and Application 154–179. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
Polanyi, L. (1985) Telling the American Story: A Structural and Cultural Analysis of Conversational Storytelling. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing.
Pomerantz, A. (1984) Agreeing and disagreeing with assessments: some features of preferred/dispreferred turn shapes. In J. M. Atkinson and J. Heritage (eds) Structures of Social Action 57–101. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Schegloff, E. (2007) Sequence Organization in Interaction: A Primer in Conversation Analysis (vol. 1). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511791208
Schegloff, E. and Sacks, H. (1973) Opening up closings. Semiotica 8: 289–327. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/semi.1973.8.4.289
Stygall, G. (1994) Trial Language: Differential Discourse Processing and Discursive Formation. Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/pbns.26
Tannen, D. (1989) Talking Voices. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wellman, F. L. (2009) The Art of Cross-Examination. Garden City, NY: Garden City Publishing Company.
Wodak, R. (1980) Discourse analysis and courtroom interaction. Discourse Processes 3: 369–380. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01638538009544498
Woodbury, H. (1984) The strategic use of questions in court. Semiotica 8: 197–228. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/semi.1984.48.3-4.19.
Atkinson, M. J. and Drew, P. (1979) Order in the Court: The Organisation of Verbal Interaction in Judicial Settings. London: McMillan.
Bakhtin, M. M. (1981) Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays by M. M. Bakhtin (trans. C. Emerson and M. Holquist). Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
Bamberg, M. (2012) Narrative practice and identity navigation. In J. A. Holsten and J. F. Gubrium (eds) Varieties of Narrative Analysis 99–124. Los Angeles: SAGE.
Bauman, R. (1986) Story, Performance, and Event: Contextual Studies of Oral Narrative. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511620935
Bell, A. (1984) Language style as audience design. In N. Coupland and A. Jaworski (eds) Sociolinguistics: A Reader and Coursebook 240–250. New York: St Martin’s Press Inc.
Cameras in Courts (n.d.) In United States Courts. Retrieved 2 February 2013, from http://www.uscourts.gov/multimedia/cameras.aspx.
Chafe, W. (1994) Discourse, Consciousness, and Time. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
Danet, B., Hoffman, K. B., Kermish, N. C., Rafn, H. J. and Stayman, D. G. (1980) An ethnography of questioning in the courtroom. In R. W. Shuy (ed.) Language Use and the Uses of Language 222–234. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
De Fina, A. (2003) Identity in Narrative: A Study of Immigrant Discourse. Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/sin.3
Drew, P. (1992) Contested evidence in courtroom cross-examination: the case of a trial for rape. In P. Drew and J. Heritage (eds) Talk at Work: Interaction in Institutional Settings 470–520. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Drew, P. (1998) Complaints about transgressions and misconduct. Research on Language and Social Interaction 31: 295–325.
Eades, D. (2000) ‘I don’t think it’s an answer to the question’: Silencing Aboriginal witnesses in court. Language in Society 29: 161–195. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0047404500002013
Fasulo, A. and Zucchermaglio, C. (2008) Narratives in the workplace: facts, fictions, and canonicity. Text & Talk 28: 351–376. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/TEXT.2008.017
Fieger, G. N. (2002) In Fieger Law. Retrieved 23 April 2013, from http://www.fiegerlaw.com/GeoffreyFieger.php.
Galatolo, R. (2007) Active voicing in court. In E. Holt and R. Clift (eds) Reporting Talk 194–220. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Galatolo, R. and Drew, P. (2006) Narrative expansions as defensive practices in courtroom testimony. Text & Talk 26: 661–698. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/TEXT.2006.028
Goffman, E. (1981) Forms of Talk. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Gumperz, J. J. (2003) Interactional sociolinguistics: a personal perspective. In D. Schiffrin, D. Tannen and H. E. Hamilton (eds) The Handbook of Discourse Analysis 503–517. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
Hobbs, P. (2003) ‘You must say it for him’: Reformulating a witness’ testimony on cross examination at trial. Text 23(4): 477–511. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/text.2003.019
Lakoff, R. (1972) Language in context. Language 28: 907–927. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/411994
Luchjenbroers, J. (1997) ‘In your own words …’: Questions and answers in a Supreme Court trial. Journal of Pragmatics 27: 477–503. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(96)00033-1
Matoesian, G. M. (1993) Reproducing Rape: Domination through Talk in the Courtroom. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Matoesian, G. M. (2001) Intertextuality, reported speech, and affect. In Law and the Language of Identity 105–132. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Mauet, T. (1980) Fundamentals of Trial Techniques. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company.
Penman, R. (1987) Discourse in courts: cooperation, coercion, and coherence. Discourse Processes 10: 449–481. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01638538709544672
Perrin, T. L., Caldwell, H. M. and Chase, C. A. (2003) The Art and Science of Trial Advocacy. Cincinnati, OH: Anderson.
Philips, S. (1986) Reported speech as evidence in an American trial. In D. Tannen and J .E. Alatis (eds) Languages and Linguistics: The Interdependence of Theory, Data and Application 154–179. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
Polanyi, L. (1985) Telling the American Story: A Structural and Cultural Analysis of Conversational Storytelling. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing.
Pomerantz, A. (1984) Agreeing and disagreeing with assessments: some features of preferred/dispreferred turn shapes. In J. M. Atkinson and J. Heritage (eds) Structures of Social Action 57–101. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Schegloff, E. (2007) Sequence Organization in Interaction: A Primer in Conversation Analysis (vol. 1). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511791208
Schegloff, E. and Sacks, H. (1973) Opening up closings. Semiotica 8: 289–327. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/semi.1973.8.4.289
Stygall, G. (1994) Trial Language: Differential Discourse Processing and Discursive Formation. Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/pbns.26
Tannen, D. (1989) Talking Voices. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wellman, F. L. (2009) The Art of Cross-Examination. Garden City, NY: Garden City Publishing Company.
Wodak, R. (1980) Discourse analysis and courtroom interaction. Discourse Processes 3: 369–380. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01638538009544498
Woodbury, H. (1984) The strategic use of questions in court. Semiotica 8: 197–228. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/semi.1984.48.3-4.19.
Published
2015-11-06
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Baffy, M., & Marsters, A. (2015). The constructed voice in courtroom cross-examination. International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law, 22(2), 143-165. https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsll.v22i2.17895
