Active voicing in court

This article, an exploratory study of the functions of D.R.S. in legal testimonies, investigates the use of D.R.S. in court with the goal of identifying the instances in which D.R.S. occurs and of analysing the functions it has in the context of witness examination and cross-examination. The analysis of witness use of D.R.S. during examination and cross-examination confirms some of the actions already recognized for this form in other contexts, mainly the action of providing evidence and the function of of accomplishing moral work. The analysis shows that, in legal testimony, the action of providing evidence through D.R.S. is highlighted by the frequent sequential location of quotes in the expansions of the answers. The function of accomplishing moral work refers to the possibility of using what is apparently the most objective form of representation of past dialogues, that is, the activation of voices, to convey evaluations of those dialogues and of the people who participated in them. Different aspects of speech, including content, structure and prosody, can contribute to conveying a moral evaluation of people and events that serve to support or counter a special version of facts. In the trial context, this function is particularly important because it permits lay witnesses to express their opinions and impressions without explicitly violating the rule restricting the nature of their contribution.