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To Testify or Not to Testify?

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Language in the Legal Process

Abstract

When attorneys call on a linguist to help them with a criminal case, their first words are usually, ‘I need someone to testify’. To me, this signifies one of three things: the attorney has never used a linguist before, the case is so hopeless that desperation has already set in, or the attorney has actually become aware of the importance of linguistic analysis for a case.

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References

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© 2002 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited

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Shuy, R.W. (2002). To Testify or Not to Testify?. In: Cotterill, J. (eds) Language in the Legal Process. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230522770_1

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