Unseen Hand

The book presents an empirically-based linguistic account of a corpus of two depositions in a United States police brutality lawsuit. It analyzes how depositions entextualize testimony for later use as The Hidden Hand which enables trial attorneys to ask questions in cross-examination with certainty that they will get answers favourable to their side. In the dialectic between participants over cooperation and resistance arising from conflicting interests, the book analyzes the linguistic tools and strategies used by examiners, deposition-defenders, and deponents.