Has this happened in your court? Has the court prohibited witnesses or victims from saying certain words? A short list in a June 16, 2008, article in law.com includes the following:
rape
victim
crime scene
homicide
drunk
victim
murderer
killer
Some attorneys call them “loaded words” and say that they conflict with the “presumption of innocence” in the jury’s eyes. Other attorneys object to the practice, saying preventing witnesses and victims saying certain words censors them.
You can read the article here: “Courts Putting Hot-Button Words on Ice.” (http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/crimprof_blog/2008/06/courts-putting.html)
(Another interesting take on this is at a language blog at http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=259#more-259).
You can comment on this below or e-mail me at jschmidt@ncrahq.org.
Posted
Jul 02 2008, 02:51 PM
by
Jacqueline Schmidt