My Right

That's not what I said

Being a court reporter (of the stenographer rather than journalist variety) can be a challenging job, as Hamilton District Court reporter Jane Stearns pointed out in a recent LawTalk article.

Usual problems include counsel asking questions too quickly, tapping the microphone or having quiet chats with colleagues when their microphones are still on.

However, when Stearns started out, she had the added challenge of being from England and thus having the odd problem understanding every word that Kiwis were saying. "My best effort so far must be when I transcribed, 'I wrote out a cheque,' which I heard clearly.

In fact, the defendant had said, 'I rooted a chick'."