COURT OF GENERAL SESSIONS
OF WINCHESTER COUNTY, NEW ESSEX
December 10, 1959
Action: People vs. Callista Blake; Justice Terence Mann presiding.
Court in session at 0956.
JUDGE MANN: Do I understand, Mr. Hunter, that you wish to have read to the jury the letters that were admitted in evidence before adjournment yesterday?
MR. HUNTER: Yes, your Honor. I am prepared to read—to go ahead with that right away.
JUDGE MANN: Let them be read by the clerk of the court.
MR. DELEHANTY: Your Honor, I have a—not laryngitis exactly, but a sort of cold. I'm perfectly ready to do as the Court directs, only I'm afraid that with this cold or whatever it is, maybe my voice won't be too clear to the jury.
JUDGE MANN: Well ... Yes, Mr. Warner?
MR. WARNER: Your Honor, the defense will not object to a reading of these letters by Mr. Hunter himself. I am certain my learned colleague would never take any improper advantage of his dramatic ability, admittedly great. Very often, however, written words are capable of conveying different meanings according to where the emphasis is placed, not because of any willful misconstruction, but simply because our language is not always a precise instrument. Therefore I would only stipulate, request rather, that if there should be any doubt in my mind, or in my client's mind, that the meaning of the letters is being correctly conveyed, we may have the privilege of interrupting the reading at that point, to indicate what we believe is the right interpretation.