Innocent English

Funny Courtroom Mistakes

Based on Actual Courtroom Trial Transcripts of Lawyers asking witnesses questions

The youngest son, the 20-year-old, how old is he?

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I show you exhibit 3 and ask you
if you recognize that picture.
That's me.
Were you present when that picture was taken?

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What is your name?

Ernestine McDowell.

And what is your marital status?

Fair.

So you were gone until you returned?

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She had three children, right?
Yes.
How many were boys?
None.
Were there girls?

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You don't know what it was, and you didn't know what it looked like, but can you describe it?

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You say that the stairs went down to the basement?
Yes.
And these stairs, did they go up also?

Were you alone or by yourself.

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Do you have any children or anything of that kind?

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Have you lived in this town all your life?
Not yet.

Were you present in court this morning
when you were sworn in?

Mrs. Jones, is your appearance this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?

No. This is how I dress when I go to work.

The Judge: Now, as we begin, I must ask you to banish all present information and prejudice from your minds, if you have any.

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When he went, had you gone and had she, if she wanted to and were able, for the time being excluding all the restraints on her not to go, gone also, would he have brought you, meaning you and she, with him to the station?

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And lastly, Gary, all your responses must

be oral O.K.?
What school do you go to?

Oral.

How old are you?

Oral.

What is your relationship with the plaintiff?

She is my daughter.

Was she your daughter on February 13, 1979?

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Could you see him from where you were standing?

I could see his head.

And where was his head?

Just above his shoulders.