Speech patterns

1. a) It was their job to decide if the two murders had happened and if it was reasonable for Carl Lee to stand trial.

His accusation doesn’t stand fire.

Mr. Norich couldn’t stand bail for his son Michael.

They had a very merry party at Vauxhall, Gus insisting on standing treat.

b) I am sorry for the mistake. I stand corrected.

Corn stands high this year.

This plant has been standing idle for 5 years.

c) How can you stand aside and see the child badly treated?

In those days, skirts were made to stand away from the body.

Stand back! This is a very powerful explosive!

The police took accounts of the accident from two witnesses who happened to be standing by at the time of the crash.

How can a crowd stand by while a woman is attacked and robbed?

2. To finish, he then brought out a set of color photographs of the murder victims, some taken so close you could see how the bullets had broken through the skin and bone.

It was a beautiful afternoon. The sky was blue, the sun yellow, butterflies flitted, birds tooted, bees bussed and, to cut a long story short, all Nature smiled.

To put it mildly, the food at the restaurant was some of the worst that I have ever tasted.

John and Mary had to be taken care of, to say nothing of Bill, who would require even more attention.

3. They had grown tired of him.

Jane grew pale when she heard the news about John.

Michael grew red when the lady accused him of stealing her purse.

As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others (Audrey Hepburn).

When the policeman removed the handcuffs Jack’s hands had already grown numb.

Phrases and Word Combinations

to go on trial the grand jury

to stand trial for murder (rape) to be guilty of murder

to take the law into one’s own hands to win the first argument

to accuse smb of being a lawless man to bring in a State witness

to sustain / rule out an objection to put smb in jail

to give technical (medical) evidence to go into great detail

a man with a criminal record the closing arguments

to plan a short opening speech to be freed / acquitted

to brush away a tear with one’s finger

to be led into the courtroom (into the jury box)

to be accepted as evidence during a murder trial

to find the defendant not guilty on the charges against them

Essentialvocabulary

1. law n 1) the whole system of rules that people in a particular country or area must obey, e.g. By law, seatbelts must be worn by all passengers. He seems to know everything about criminal law.

to break the law to do something illegal, e.g. Should people do what they think is right even when it means breaking the law?

to obey the law, e.g. Elected officials ought to obey the law.

to be against the law to be illegal, e.g.In Sweden it is against the law to hit a child.

within the law legal or legally, e.g. They were fully convinced they were performing their duties within the law.

2) a rule that people in a particular area must obey, e.g. Five people arrested under antiterrorism laws were released without charge. The laws against drug use were very severe.

3) a situation in which people respect the law, and crime is controlled by the police, the prison system etc, e.g. We are concerned about the breakdown of law and order in the country.

4) the police, e.g. I think she may be in trouble with the law.

5) law as a subject of study, or the profession of being a lawyer, e.g. She’s studying law in London.

6) one of the rules which controls a sport or activity, as the laws of football.

a law-breaker n someone who does something illegal, e.g. A law-breaker was caught red-handed.

a lawyer n someone whose job is to advise people about laws, write formal agreements, or represent people in court, e.g. Atticus Finch was an experienced smart lawyer and a very clever man.

law-abiding a respectful of the law and obeying it, as a law-abiding citizen.

2. guilt n the fact of having done wrong, e. g. There is no evidence of his guilt. A strong sense of guilt was written all over his face.

a guilt complex, e. g. With such strict parents it's no surprise that the boy has a guilt complex.

Syn. blame, e.g. He is the kind of man who always tries to shift the blame onto the others.

Syn. fault, e. g. She loves him in spite of his faults.

to find fault with smb (smth) to find smth wrong with smb, e. g. She’s always finding fault (with everybody).

Syn. to pick on smb for smth wrong, e. g. Whose fault is it? It is entirely your fault that we are late. You are picking on me.

through no fault of one’s own, e. g. It happened through no fault of my own.

through no fault of mine (hers, his, ours, etc.), e. g. Your Honour, I’ve been out of work through no fault of mine for two years.

Ant. merits.

guilty a having committed a crime, having done wrong, e. g. It is better to risk saving a guilty person than to condemn an innocent one.

Ant. innocent, guiltless

to be guilty of (doing) smth, e. g. The woman was guilty of giving false testimony.

to find smb guilty (innocent), e. g. The jury found the prisoner guilty.

(to have) guilty conscience, a guilty look, smile, etc., e. g. No matter how hard he tried to prove that he was innocent, his guilty look betrayed him.

to look (feel, sound, etc.) guilty, e. g. Though Tom did not look guilty, Aunt Polly was sure he was telling a lie.

to plead (not) guilty (not) to admit the charge at a law-court, e. g. Why should I plead guilty to something I didn't do? The defendant pleaded (not) guilty.

3. object vi to be against smth or someone, e. g I object to the whole thing on principle.

object n 1) a material thing, e. g. What is that dark object over there? 2) smth or smb that is the focus of feeling, thought, or action, as an object of pity, admiration, ridicule, delight, curiosity, fear, etc., e. g. She was the object of his love. 3) purpose; aim. e. g. The object of his visit was not clear.

objection n a statement or feeling of dislike, disapproval, or opposition, e. g. Have you any objection to his coming?

to sustain / rule out an objection, e.g. The judge ruled out the objection and instructed the jury to ignore the statement.

objective a not influenced by personal feelings; fair, e. g. The writer tried to be as objective as possible in evaluating his latest work.

4. jury n 1) a group of 12 ordinary people who listen to the details of a case in court and decide whether someone is guilty or not, e.g. The jury found him not guilty.

trial by jury, e.g. They had the right to trial by jury.

a jury box the place where the jury sits in a court.

to sit / serve on a jury to be part of a jury, e.g. He was chosen to sit on a jury.

grand jury a group of people in the US who decide whether someone charged with a crime should be judged in a court of law, e.g. The grand jury made its decision.

2) a group of people chosen to judge a competition, e.g. He was afraid of getting low points from the jury.

a juror n a member of a jury.

5. to accuse v to say that you believe someone is guilty of a crime or of doing something bad, as to accuse smb of doing smth, e.g. He was accused of murder. Smith was accused of lying.

to charge v to state officially that someone may be guilty of a crime as to charge smb with smth, e.g. John has been charged with murder.

to indict v to officially charge someone with a criminal offence as to indict smb for smth, e.g. He was indicted for vehicular homicide in 1987.

the accused n (singular or plural) the person or group of people who have been officially accused of a crime or offence in a court of law, e.g. The jury came to a unanimous decision that the accused was guilty.

6. trial n 1) a legal process in which a judge and often a jury in a court of law examine information to decide whether someone is guilty of a crime, e.g. The defendant has a right to a fair trial. Murphy sat in a prison cell awaiting trial.

on trial for smth being judged in a court of law for smth, e.g. Brady was on trial for assault.

to stand trial to be judged in a court of law, e.g. The men are due to stand trial on a drugs charge.

to go / come to trial to begin being judged in a court of law, e.g. By the time the case comes to trial, he will have spent a year in prison.

to bring smb to trial, e.g. Thirty police officers were brought to trial.

2) a process of testing to find out whether something works effectively and is safe, e.g. A new drug is informed to be undergoing clinical trials.

3) a short period during which you use or do something or employ someone to find out whether they are satisfactory for a particular purpose or job, e.g. They let me have a computer on trial for thirty days. Smith was hired on a six-month trial basis.

4) something that is difficult to deal with, and that is worrying or annoying, e.g. My brothers and I were always a real trial to my parents.

7. witness n 1) someone who sees a crime or an accident and can describe what happened, e.g. One witness to the accident said the driver appeared to be drunk. John was an eyewitness to the robbery.

2) someone who appears in a court of law to say what they know about a crime or other event, as a key (star, state, principal, credible, prosecution, defence) witness, a witness for the prosecution (defence), e.g. The defence is expected to call them as witnesses.

3) someone who is present when an official document is signed, and who signs it too, to say that they saw it being signed, e.g. Mr. Black asked his butler to be a witness to his will.

witness v 1) to see something happen, especially a crime or accident, e.g. Several residents claim to have witnessed the attack.

2) to experience important events or changes, e.g. Priests have witnessed an increase in religious intolerance.

3) if a time or place witnesses an event, the event happens during that time or in that place, e.g. Recent years have witnessed the collapse of the steel industry.

4) if you witness the signing of an official document, you are there when it is signed, and sign it yourself to prove this, e.g. Will you witness my signature?

a witness box (BrE), a witness stand (AmE) the place in a court of law where a witness stands to answer questions, e.g. He was asked to take his place in the witness box.

8. annoy vt/i1) to make a little angry, especially by repeated acts; to disturb and nervously upset a person, e. g. Wilfred did not want to pay too much attention to Fleur, he was afraid of annoying her.

Syn. vex, irk, bother

2) persistent interrupting, interrupting with or intruding on until the victim is angry, or upset, e. g. Clouds of flies annoyed our horses.

Syn. worry, harass, plague, pester, tease.

Ant. soothe, comfort

to be annoyed at/over smth, e. g. He was annoyed at the boy's stupidity.

to be annoyed with, e. g. The old woman was annoyed with the noisy children.

annoying a causing one to feel annoyed, as annoying manners, e. g. How annoying! The annoying thing about it is that I keep thinking about Lizzy.

Syn. bothersome, irritating, troublesome, harassing, tormenting, nagging, vexatious.

9. self-important a behaving in a way that shows you think you are more important than other people – used to show disapproval, e.g. He was considered a self-important, pompous little man.

self-importance n an exaggerated sense of one’s own value or importance, e.g. He was a big, blustering, opinionated cop, full of self-importance.

Syn. egotism

self-importantly adv

10. look v; also, look here interj. used for drawing attention before making a statement, often angry, e. g. Look here, I don't mind you borrowing my books, but you ought to ask me first.

to look about to look in several different directions, e.g. Looking about (the room) I could see no sign of life.

to look at 1) to turn eyes towards something, so that yon can see it, e.g. He looked at the jury, and saw Wanda Wornack brush away a tear with her finger. 2) to study and think about something, especially in order to decide what to do, e.g. Jake looked at his notes as he walked across the courtroom.

to look down on/upon to have or show low opinion, e.g. The school looks down on such behaviour.

to look on to watch instead of doing something, e.g. Two men stole the jewels while a large crowd looked on.

to look out to take care, e.g. You'll catch cold if you don't look out.

to look up (informal) to find and visit someone, e.g. If I'm ever here on business again I'll look you up.

to look up to to respect someone, e. g. Every child needs someone to look up to and copy.