These
are from a book called Disorder in the American
Courts, and are things people actually said in
court,
word for word, taken down and now published by
court
reporters who had the torment of staying calm
while these exchanges were actually taking
place.
______________________________
ATTORNEY: What is your date of birth?
WITNESS: July 18th.
ATTORNEY: What year?
WITNESS: Every year.
_____________________________________
ATTORNEY: What gear were you in at the
moment of the
impact?
WITNESS: Gucci sweats and Reeboks.
______________________________________
ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it
affect your
memory at all?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect
your
memory?
WITNESS: I forget.
ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an
example of
something you forgot?
_____________________________________
ATTORNEY: How old is your son, the one
living with
you?
WITNESS: Thirty-eight or thirty-five, I
can't
remember which.
ATTORNEY: How long has he lived with you?
WITNESS: Forty-five years.
_____________________________________
ATTORNEY: What was the first thing your
husband said
to you that morning?
WITNESS: He said, "Where am I,
Cathy?"
ATTORNEY: And why did that upset you?
WITNESS: My name is Susan.
______________________________________
ATTORNEY: Do you know if your daughter has
ever been
involved in voodoo?
WITNESS: We both do.
ATTORNEY: Voodoo?
WITNESS: We do.
ATTORNEY: You do?
WITNESS: Yes, voodoo.
______________________________________
ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn't it true that
when a
person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about
it
until the next morning?
WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar
exam?
___________________________________
ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the
twenty-year-old, how
old is he?
WITNESS: Uh, he's twenty-one..
________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Were you present when your
picture was
taken?
WITNESS: Would you repeat the question?
______________________________________
ATTORNEY: So the date of conception (of
the baby) was
August 8th?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And what were you doing at that
time?
WITNESS: Uh....
______________________________________
ATTORNEY: She had three children, right?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: How many were boys?
WITNESS: None.
ATTORNEY: Were there any girls?
______________________________________
ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage
terminated?
WITNESS: By death.
ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it
terminated?
______________________________________
ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual?
WITNESS: He was about medium height and
had a beard.
ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female?
______________________________________
ATTORNEY: Is your appearance here this
morning
pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to
your
attorney?
WITNESS: No, this is how I dress when I go
to work.
______________________________________
ATTORNEY: Doctor, how many of your
autopsies have you performed on
dead people?
WITNESS: All my autopsies are performed on
dead
people.
______________________________________
ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral,
OK? What
school did you go to?
WITNESS: Oral.
______________________________________
ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you
examined
the body?
WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30
p.m..
ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the
time?
WITNESS: No, he was sitting on the table
wondering
why I was doing an autopsy on him!
______________________________________
ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a
urine sample?
WITNESS: Huh?
______________________________________
ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the
autopsy,
did you check for a pulse?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood
pressure?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY Did you check for breathing?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the
patient
was alive when you began the autopsy?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on
my desk in
a jar.
ATTORNEY: But could the patient have still
been
alive, nevertheless?
WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could
have been
alive and practicing law.
