Stance Expressions in the Courtroom

Abstract

Drawing upon a corpus of three high-profile Anglo-American trials, this study explores stance expressions in legal opening statements. Specifically, the study analyzes the forms and functions of stance resources such as self-mention, hedges, boosters, and attitude markers. The study finds stance expressions to permeate the opening statement. These devices, I argue, enable the lawyer to subtly bypass the legal constraints that prohibit explicit display of personal opinions and comments on the evidence.