An Introduction to Applied Linguistics

4 SOME FACTORS IN FORENSIC LINGUISTICS
Forensic linguistics has been defined as the stylistic analysis of statements made to the
police by those accused of criminal activity.
4.1 Example 1
In 1991 two applied linguists were invited to act as expert witnesses in the Country
Court of Victoria in Australia in a case involving an accused person of non-English-
speaking background who had been charged with assaulting a police officer (Jensen
1991). At a preliminary hearing the counsel for the defence attempted to establish
that the accused should have had the assistance of an interpreter at the time of his
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arrest and police interview. The police record of interview contained a detailed con -
fession of guilt, and was thus a key item of evidence in the case for the prosecution.
If this item of evidence could be shown to have been unfairly obtained (and separ -
ately, obtained under duress) it would be excluded from evidence before the jury and
result in the accused being acquitted. This in fact is what happened.
I want to look now at this example in the light of the relevant factors.
4.1.1 Educational
During evidence in court it was necessary for the two applied linguistics witnesses
to convince the prosecuting counsel (and the judge) that their educational qualifi -
cations were such that they could be accepted as expert witnesses in their field.
4.1.2 Specialist professional knowledge
The applied linguist who works on languages for specific purposes (e.g. English for
chemical engineers, Japanese for tourist guides, German for musicology) must seek
advice on the content of those disciplines from specialists in these fields. Similarly,
with forensic linguistics, the applied linguist needs advice about the workings of the
law, insofar as they affect the way in which evidence is to be given. Such advice will
of course be given by the relevant specialist, in this case the lawyer for the defence
or prosecution, depending on which side the applied linguist is appearing for. In
addition, if the case concerns an area with its own specialism (financial probity,
perhaps, or aircraft parts), the applied linguist will need information from specialists
in these areas on how to interpret the content of the transcripts which he/she is
analysing stylistically.
4.1.3 Linguistic and phonetic
Since the applied linguist is called on to support one or other counsel as an expert
witness rather than as the chief investigator in forensic language problems, it is likely
to be the linguistic and phonetic factors that he/she must concentrate on. What is
typically at issue here is whether it is probable that the accused said or wrote what
he/she is recorded as having said or written. Such assessment requires careful judge -
ment of the accused’s level of English proficiency as well as a thorough stylistic
analysis of the transcripts so as to infer whether someone at the proficiency level of
the accused was likely to have made those statements and whether the transcript
showed consistency of proficiency. In the case in question the applied linguists’
evidence was accepted and the accused acquitted.
4.1.4 Professional expertise
Equally interesting was the need for the two applied linguists to establish that their
professional field could itself be regarded as a distinct area of scholarly expertise.
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Unless this was established to the satisfaction of the court, their evidence could not
be heard, on the grounds that experts are permitted to offer opinions only on matters
which the average person of good common sense (e.g. a jury member) is incapable
of assessing (the so-called rule of common knowledge).