Catholic University Law Review Volume 49 Issue 4 Summer 2000 Article 2 2000 Demeanor Credibility James P. Timony Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.edu/lawreview Recommended Citation James P. Timony, Demeanor Credibility, 49 Cath. U. L. Rev. 903 (2000). Available at: https://scholarship.law.edu/lawreview/vol49/iss4/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by CUA Law Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Catholic University Law Review by an authorized editor of CUA Law Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. ARTICLES DEMEANOR CREDIBILITY HonorableJames P. Timony INTRODUCTION Tony: Why are you arresting me? Sheriff: Because we think you shot the store clerk. Tony: I shot the store clerk!!! Sheriff: You shot the store clerk? Tony: I shot the store clerk!!! Sheriff: I knew you'd confess.! Witnesses may use irony or sarcasm to convey their meaning. Unfor- tunately, the written transcript cannot reflect all of the subtleties of a witness, such as an inflection of voice or a particular gesture that may completely change the meaning of the testimony. Often the sincerity of the witness may be observed only from the way the witness sounds or looks.2 When the sheriff accused him of shooting the clerk, Tony ex- + Chief Administrative Law Judge, Federal Trade Commission. B.S., 1954, Ohio University; LLB, 1959, Georgetown University Law Center; LLM, 1961, Georgetown University Law Cen- ter. The views expressed by the author are his own and are not intended to reflect any agency position. 1.