12.1 Interruptions, Indiscernible Speech & Nonverbal Responses

Blueprint topics 30302, 30304 and 30305 cover interruptions and double dashes, indiscernible speech, and nonverbal responses.

Interruptions and overlapping speech

The rule

Guide to Judiciary Policy § 520.36.40: "Interruptions of speech must be denoted by the use of a dash at the point of interruption, and again at the point the speaker resumes speaking." And: "At the discretion of the transcriber, simultaneous discussions may also be noted in this manner." AAERT's samples type the dash as two hyphens (Chapter 7).

Patterns

Cut off, and the speaker does not resume:

          THE COURT:  Don't guess, Mr. Lim.  If you don't --
          THE WITNESS:  I don't know.

Cut off, and the speaker resumes the same sentence:

Q.   And did you ever --
          MS. LEE:  Objection.
          THE COURT:  Let him finish the question.
BY MR. RUIZ:
Q.   -- see the defendant with a weapon?

Two speakers overlapping. Use multi-channel playback to separate them (Chapter 3), then put each speaker's words in the order they began, with dashes where each was cut off. When both keep talking at once, give each full utterance in turn.

Everyone talking at once, words unrecoverable. Some clients use a parenthetical such as (Simultaneous speaking.) or (Crosstalk.) when overlapping voices cannot be separated even on individual channels. Use it only after single-channel playback fails, and use the client's approved wording.

Self-interruptions

A speaker who breaks off and restarts gets a double dash at the break: She came from -- she moved here from Oklahoma. The words before the break are kept (Chapter 11).

Indiscernible speech

The federal standard

Guide § 520.40.20(e):

1. "Incomplete records of proceedings are unacceptable in a court of law. It is therefore highly undesirable to have any portion of a transcript labeled 'indiscernible' or 'inaudible.'"
2. "Every effort must be made to produce a complete transcript. The use of 'inaudible' or 'indiscernible' should be used only when it is impossible to transcribe the record."

Indiscernible vs. inaudible

• Indiscernible: the sound is there, but the words cannot be made out (mumbling, overlap, noise).
• Inaudible: too faint to be heard at all.

The CET blueprint (30304, 30405) uses (indiscernible), the common choice for recorded proceedings, since the recording usually captures something.

Before you type "(indiscernible)"

1. Replay at normal speed, then slower, with pitch correction if the player has it.
2. Solo each channel; the speaker's own microphone usually carries the clearest version.
3. Balance channels and adjust volume (not maximum).
4. Check the log notes for key words or spellings at that time stamp.
5. Check the case information, the exhibits and the context: the next question often repeats the missing words.
6. Come back later with fresh ears.

How to mark it

Put the notation where the missing words were, and keep every word you can hear:

A. I went to the (indiscernible) store on Maple Way.

Q. And then what did you (indiscernible)?

Do not guess, and do not "fill in" words from the log notes or from context that you did not actually hear. When you can hear a word clearly but cannot verify its spelling, that is a (phonetic) problem, not (indiscernible) (Section 12.2).

Nonverbal responses

Witnesses nod, shake their heads, shrug and point. Blueprint topic 30305 asks how to handle these.

The rules

• The recording captures only sound, so a nod is invisible to the transcriber unless someone says so. The Guide (§ 520.40.20(c)) puts the responsibility "to note for the record any significant nonverbal behavior" on the attorneys, and sometimes the judge.
• "If counsel or the court refers to the witness's affirmative or negative gesture, parenthetical phrases may be used," such as (Nods head up and down), (Shakes head from side to side), (Indicating).
• Reporters' log notes often record the gesture; AAERT's blog shows log entries like A (Nods affirmatively) and A (No audible response).

Describe, don't interpret

A nod is not a "yes." Many witnesses nod to mean "I understand the question." The typical exchange shows why counsel asks for words:

Q.   Did you see him leave?
A.   (Nods head up and down)
Q.   You have to answer out loud for the record.  Is that a
yes?
A.   Yes.

AAERT's blog gives another pattern, with the reporter asking: A (No audible response) / THE REPORTER: I'm sorry, I didn't hear your answer. / THE WITNESS: I don't know.

Putting it together

When audio is hard, work in this order: separate (channels), identify (who is speaking), transcribe (every word you can hear), mark (dashes for interruptions, (indiscernible) only as a last resort), and describe (neutral parentheticals for nonverbal events referred to on the record).