The Paralegal Who Wanted to Correct the Witness’s Grammar
A court reporter is proofreading a 180-page deposition transcript. The witness, a contractor, testified: “I seen him standing by the principal’s office, alright, and he said ‘I ain’t done nothing.’” The attorney’s questions include: “Did you go further down the hall?” and “May it please the Court.” The proofreader, a paralegal, marks the following changes: “seen” to “saw”; “ain’t” to “isn’t”; “alright” to “all right”; “principal’s” to “principle’s”; “further” to “farther”; and “Court” to “court.” The paralegal says the transcript should be grammatically correct because it will be read by a jury. The reporter’s audio confirms the witness said “seen,” “ain’t,” and “alright,” and that the location was a school principal’s office. The attorney actually said “further,” not “farther.” The witness’s dialect is relevant to his credibility, and the case is in Nevada state court.
1. Which of the paralegal’s edits should the reporter accept or reject, and why?
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Reject the grammar “corrections” that change the witness’s words: “seen” stays “seen,” “ain’t” stays “ain’t,” and “alright” should not be silently converted to “all right” if the audio says “alright.” A verbatim transcript should not clean up dialect. Accept “principal’s” because the audio and context confirm a school principal’s office; “principle’s” would be wrong. Keep “further” because the attorney actually said “further”; do not change it to “farther” merely because the sentence describes physical distance. Capitalize “Court” in “May it please the Court” because it is direct address to the judge; use lowercase “court” for a generic reference. The paralegal’s goal of jury readability does not override verbatim accuracy.
2. How should the reporter handle [sic] and punctuation around the witness’s embedded quotation?
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Use quotation marks to reflect the witness’s actual words, including the embedded quotation: “I ain’t done nothing.” Do not add a question mark unless the witness’s inflection made it a question. Use [sic] sparingly; it is not needed to mark dialect or nonstandard grammar, and it can look like editorializing. If [sic] is used, place it immediately after the questionable word and do not use it to embarrass the witness. Use em dashes for interrupted speech and brackets only for editorial clarification, such as [inaudible] or a confirmed proper name.
3. What principle should the reporter explain if the paralegal insists on making the transcript grammatically correct?
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The controlling principle is that the transcript is a verbatim record, not a grammar textbook. The reporter may correct obvious transcription errors such as homophones, proper names, and punctuation that changes meaning, but may not improve a speaker’s grammar, dialect, or word choice. If the paralegal insists, the reporter should explain the distinction and, if necessary, escalate to the supervising attorney. The reporter’s certificate should not be used to launder edits that alter the evidence.