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#245 The court of law in the USA -part 2

#245 The court of law in the USA -part 2

Released Thursday, 23rd March 2023
 1 person rated this episode
#245 The court of law in the USA -part 2

#245 The court of law in the USA -part 2

#245 The court of law in the USA -part 2

#245 The court of law in the USA -part 2

Thursday, 23rd March 2023
 1 person rated this episode
Rate Episode

Episode Transcript

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0:01

Today, let's keep talking

0:03

about words related to

0:06

trials. And to

0:08

help improve your English

0:10

fluency, I have created

0:12

a fun mini story. As

0:15

usual, I will ask you many

0:17

simple questions. You must

0:19

answer quickly. It's just

0:22

like having a conversation with someone

0:24

in real life.

0:27

Welcome to Speak English Now

0:29

podcast. With your host, Georgiana,

0:32

the podcast that will help you to speak

0:34

English fluently with no grammar

0:36

and no textbooks.

0:39

Hi. I'm Georgiana, your

0:41

English teacher. Thanks for

0:43

joining me for a new episode. My

0:46

mission is to help you speak

0:49

English fluently. If

0:52

you want to help, please share

0:54

the podcast. That would

0:56

mean a lot. Thanks. Before

1:00

we start, Get the transcript

1:02

on my website. Speak english

1:05

podcast dot com. Okay.

1:10

Let's start. Number

1:13

one, expert witness.

1:16

An expert witness is someone

1:19

who in a trial gives

1:21

their professional and impartial

1:23

opinion on a specific

1:26

topic related to the trial.

1:29

Sometimes, they may prepare

1:31

a report or testify. For

1:36

example, the

1:38

expert witness gave his

1:40

professional opinion on the

1:42

box. It

1:44

was indeed an empty box

1:46

of chocolate chip cookies. Number

1:51

2. Witness. A

1:55

witness is someone who

1:57

has direct knowledge of the

1:59

facts on trial. Witnesses

2:03

are essential because

2:05

they can help determine a

2:07

defendant's guilt. For

2:10

example, a witness can

2:12

provide key information about

2:15

the crime circumstances and

2:18

help confirm whether the defendant

2:21

was present at the crime scene.

2:25

Example, the

2:27

witness testify with

2:29

horror that he saw

2:31

the defendant eating and

2:33

tasting the last chocolate chip

2:36

cookie in the box. Number

2:40

three, cross examination.

2:45

In trials, an attorney asked

2:47

the defendant and others questions

2:50

to find out more about what happened.

2:54

For example, imagine this

2:57

cross examination between the

2:59

prosecutor and the defendant. So

3:03

why did you lick your fingers? Because

3:07

they were covered in chocolate. There

3:11

are no further questions, your honor.

3:15

Number four, judge.

3:18

The judge is the most influential

3:21

person in the courtroom. They

3:23

preside over the trial and

3:26

pass sentences. Your

3:28

honor is a respectful form

3:31

to address a judge. For

3:34

example, The

3:36

judge ruled that the defendant was

3:39

guilty of eating the last cookie

3:41

without sharing it with his friends.

3:46

Number five, jury.

3:50

On the other hand, a jury

3:52

is a randomly selected group

3:55

of people to decide whether

3:57

a person is guilty or

3:59

not guilty. Example,

4:03

the judge had to break for lunch

4:06

as the jury got hungry. After

4:09

hearing about cookies for hours.

4:14

Number six, sentence.

4:18

The sentence is the judge

4:20

decision as to the innocence

4:23

or guilt of the defendant. The

4:26

judge can either absolve or

4:29

convict the defendant with the sentence,

4:32

depending on whether they were found

4:34

guilty. Example,

4:38

the judge passed sentence after

4:40

hearing the prosecutor counsel,

4:43

witness, expert witness, and

4:45

the defendant himself. And

4:49

the last word for today is

4:52

penalty. In

4:54

the context of a trial, the

4:56

word penalty is the

4:59

punishment imposed by the

5:01

judge. If the defendant is

5:03

found guilty. For

5:06

example, the judge

5:09

imposed on the defendant The

5:11

penalty of buying cookies every

5:14

day for his friends, for one

5:16

month. Okay.

5:20

I hope you're having fun. Let's

5:23

listen to all the terms we have

5:25

learned over the last two episodes. Defendant,

5:31

courtroom, accomplice,

5:35

lawyer or attorney. Presumption

5:39

of innocence, prosecutor

5:42

evidence, expert

5:44

witness, witness,

5:48

cross examination, judge,

5:52

jury, Sentence

5:55

penalty. Perfect.

5:59

Now let's continue with a

6:01

mini story. So that

6:03

you can practice your spoken

6:05

English. I

6:08

will tell a story by

6:10

asking simple questions. I

6:13

used this technique extensively in

6:15

my premium courses, as

6:17

it is highly effective. First,

6:21

I say a phrase with information. Next,

6:25

I ask some questions. After

6:28

each question, there is a pause.

6:31

It's your turn to answer. After

6:34

each pause, I give a correct

6:36

answer. That's how I build

6:38

the story. And

6:40

if you want to improve your fluency

6:43

much faster, Check out

6:45

my premium courses on

6:47

my website. Speak

6:49

english podcast dot com

6:52

slash courses. There

6:54

are several levels. Okay.

6:59

Let's start. Ben

7:04

was accused of eating the

7:06

last chocolate chip cookie without

7:09

sharing it with his friends. Hey,

7:13

Ben. Did you drink

7:15

anything? No.

7:22

No. I didn't drink

7:24

anything. Were

7:28

you accused of anything? Yes.

7:38

I was accused of something.

7:41

Were you accused of eating something?

7:51

Yes. I was accused

7:53

of eating the last cookie. Was

7:56

it a peanut butter cookie? No.

8:06

No. It wasn't a peanut

8:08

butter cookie. It

8:10

was a chocolate chip cookie.

8:14

Did you share the cookie with

8:16

anyone? No.

8:24

No. I didn't share it

8:27

with anyone. I ate

8:29

the last chocolate chip by

8:31

myself. Who accused

8:33

you? My

8:41

friends. My friends

8:43

accused me of eating the last

8:45

chocolate chip cookie without

8:48

sharing. Everybody

8:51

was in the courtroom, and

8:53

Judy, the judge, opened

8:55

the session. And the jury

8:57

listen attentively to the

8:59

expert witness. Is

9:03

the courtroom empty? No.

9:11

No. The courtroom is

9:14

not empty. Everybody's

9:16

in the courtroom. Judy,

9:20

did you open anything? Yes.

9:30

I opened the session. Did

9:33

the jury listen to you?

9:42

No. No. The drawing didn't

9:45

listen to me. They listened

9:47

to the expert witness. Did

9:51

the jury talk to the expert

9:53

witness No.

10:01

No. The jury listened

10:04

to the expert witness. They

10:06

listened attentively to the

10:08

expert witness. There

10:12

was also a witness in the

10:14

courtroom who was

10:17

called upon to testify before

10:19

the jury. Was

10:22

there a witness in the courtroom?

10:32

Yes. There was a witness

10:34

in the courtroom. Did

10:38

the witness dance No.

10:47

No. The witness didn't

10:49

dance. The

10:51

witness was called upon

10:53

to testify. Did

10:56

the witness testify before

10:59

the judge or the jury?

11:08

The jury. The witness

11:11

didn't testify before

11:13

the judge, but testified before

11:16

a jury. Judy,

11:20

the judge presented definitive

11:23

evidence, an empty

11:25

box of chocolate chip

11:27

cookies. Judy,

11:32

have you presented your bibliography?

11:42

No. No. Not my bibliography.

11:46

I presented some evidence. What

11:50

kind of evidence did you present?

12:00

Definitive. I have

12:02

presented definitive evidence.

12:07

What was the definitive evidence?

12:11

A box of cereal. No.

12:20

No. Not a box of cereal.

12:23

A box of cookies. The

12:26

definitive evidence was an

12:28

empty box of chocolate chip

12:30

cookies. Judy,

12:33

Did you eat all the cookies? No.

12:43

No. I didn't eat

12:45

any cookies. It

12:47

was Ben who ate all the chocolate

12:50

chip cookies. I just presented

12:53

the empty box as

12:55

a definitive evidence. Finally,

13:00

duty the judge handed

13:03

down a severe sentence. The

13:06

defendant had to offer

13:08

chocolate chip cookies to

13:11

all his friends. Hey,

13:14

Judy. Did you hand

13:16

down anything? Yes.

13:25

I handed down something. Did

13:28

you shake hands with anyone? No.

13:37

No. I didn't shake

13:39

hands with anyone. I

13:41

handed down the sentence. How

13:45

was the sentence? Severe

13:48

or minor. Severe.

13:58

The sentence was severe. What

14:02

did the sentence involve? Chocolate

14:11

chip cookies, The

14:13

sentence involved chocolate

14:16

chip cookies, to

14:18

whom did the defendant

14:21

have to offer cookies to

14:24

you? No.

14:31

No. Not to me.

14:33

The defendant had to offer

14:35

chocolate chip cookies to

14:38

all his friends. Well,

14:42

this is the end of this short exercise.

14:46

If you find it challenging, it's

14:48

perfectly normal. You

14:50

should repeat it several times.

14:53

And if possible, on different

14:55

days, to better understand

14:58

the material. As

15:01

you can see, answering many

15:03

simple questions can

15:05

improve your speaking. Just

15:08

like in a real life conversation. This

15:11

is one of the powerful techniques

15:14

I use extensively in

15:16

my premium courses. The

15:19

courses contain hundreds of

15:21

hours of questions and answers.

15:24

Imagine a podcast episode,

15:27

multiply by one hundred. I

15:30

recommend you take a look at

15:33

Speak english podcast dot

15:35

com slash courses. Okay.

15:40

We have reached the end of this

15:42

episode. See you

15:44

soon. Bye bye. Did

15:47

you enjoy today's episode? Get

15:50

the transcript now at speak english

15:52

podcast dot com.

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