The whole truth? : hypothetical questions and the (de)construction of knowledge in expert witness cross-examination

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216275%3A25210%2F23%3A39919966" target="_blank" >RIV/00216275:25210/23:39919966 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://www.ejournals.eu/Studia-Linguistica/2023/Issue-1/art/23067/" target="_blank" >https://www.ejournals.eu/Studia-Linguistica/2023/Issue-1/art/23067/</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.4467/20834624SL.23.004.17264" target="_blank" >10.4467/20834624SL.23.004.17264</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

The whole truth? : hypothetical questions and the (de)construction of knowledge in expert witness cross-examination

Original language description

This paper examines the relation between hypotheticals and epistemic stance in jury trials, and it reveals how hypothetically framed questions (HQs) are used in cross-examination to construct “the admissible truth” (Gutheil et al. 2003) which is then turned into evidence. It looks at a selection of interactional exchanges identified in the transcripts and video recordings which document two days of expert witness cross-examination in two high-profile criminal cases. In the study, two approaches to data analysis were combined: a bottom-up approach focusing on markers of HQs offering “points of entry” into discourse through a corpus-assisted analysis and a top-down approach looking at cross-examination as a complex communicative event, providing a more holistic view of the interactional context in which HQs are used. The paper explains the role which such questions play in the positioning of opposing knowledge claims, as well as discusses the effect they create in hostile interaction with expert witnesses. As is revealed, HQs are used to elicit the witness’s assessments of alternative scenarios of past events and causal links involving the facts of the case; to elicit the witness’s assessments of general hypothetical scenarios not involving the facts of the case, or to undermine the validity of the witness’s method of analysis. In sum, the paper explains how the use of HQs aids cross-examining attorneys in deconstructing unfavourable testimony and constructing the “legal truth” which supports their narrative.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_SC - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the SCOPUS database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

60203 - Linguistics

Project

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Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2023

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Studia Linguistica Universitatis Iagellonicae Cracoviensis

ISSN

1897-1059

e-ISSN

2083-4624

Volume of the periodical

140

Issue of the periodical within the volume

1

Country of publishing house

PL - POLAND

Number of pages

27

Pages from-to

67-93

UT code for WoS article

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EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85151948932