Overview

This monograph analyses controversial trial outcomes (both civil and criminal) through a post structural feminist lens of narrative creation. It considers how narratives are constructed in trials and how the admission or exclusion of evidence can lead to the formation of distorted narratives that produce flawed outcomes. The book discusses contemporary evidential challenges surrounding the societal and legal framing of ‘truth’ within the Anglo-American trial process. It applies a post-structural feminist approach to examine how facts and rules are interpreted through the construction of legal stories. Chapters are organised to address key themes in high profile cases from around the globe. These include the cases of George Cardinal Pell, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, Lawyer X, Brittany Higgins and Kathleen Folbigg. This book departs from previous publications, such as those with a traditional feminist perspective, in that it presents both sides of the distorted lens where a defendant is written into a story as both guilty and innocent. Its focus on cognitive and narrative processes provides insight into the role of narratives and evidence construction in the trial process, and how such processes are used by legal advocates. This book would be of interest to scholars of legal psychology, criminology and socio-legal studies. It will also interest scholars and students of evidence law, especially those studying miscarriages of justice.

Full Product Details

Author:   Fiona Hum (Monash University)
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
ISBN:  

9781032876320

ISBN 10:   1032876328
Pages:   264
Publication Date:   26 November 2025
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   Not yet available  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements INTRODUCTION What Do We See and Hear?.......................................................... The Power of Narratives……………………………………………. Story Construction…………………………………………………… The Legal Narrative………………………………………… CHAPTER 1 Construction of Language and Facts: Illusion or Reality in The Courtroom? Evidentiary Terminology and Concepts…………………………………………….. Relevance …………………………………… Rules of Exclusions…………………… The Presumption of Innocence………………………………… Burden of Proof ………………………………………….. Fact-finding and Proof…………………….. R v Dawson……………. Pell v The Queen……………. Depp v Heard……………. CHAPTER 2 Rituals, Practice and Procedure: The Truth, the Whole Truth, Anything but the Truth Legal Rituals and Power……………………. Oaths and Affirmations………………… Judge or Jury?.......................... The Church, its Rituals and the Sexual Complainant Pell v R………………………….. Purpose of Appellate Courts………………. The Robes ……………………………………………. Courtroom Distancing…………………. CHAPTER 3 Constructing the Defendant: The Three Faces of Eve Mad, Bad & Sad…………………………… Translation as a means to produce meaning…………………. Women Who Kill…………………………………….. Letby v Rex……………………… Motherhood…………………………………….. An Emerging Linguistic Science on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome…………. Baby Killer and Evidential Rules………………………….. a) United Kingdom R v Trupti……………….. R v Clark………………. R v Cannings…………….. R v Anthony…………….. b) Australia R v Phillips…………….. R v Mathey…………….. R v Kathleen Folbigg………….. Constructing a mad, bad, mother The Male Image………….. The Diaries………………. A Literal Translation…………. Male Child Killers………. a) United States Robert Leslie Robertson III v Texas……….. b) Australia The Queen v Robert Farquharson………… Coincidence Reasoning…………………………………. Mothers and Mothering……………………………………………. Australia: R v Kathleen Folbigg R v Phillips UK: R v Clark R v Cannings R v Anthony USA: The Male Image…………………………………………………….. Lost in Translation………………………………………………… Narratives in Sexual Complainant Trials…………………………… CHAPTER 4 Expanding the Intersectional Approach – from priest to movie stars Intersectionality of the Defendant…………………………….. The Power of Questioning……………………………………………….. The Sexual Complainant………………………………………… Lehrmann v Network Ten Pty Ltd………………… What is seen, heard or perceived?……………. The Movie Star…………………………………. Johnny Depp v Amber Heard………………………. Race Flowers v States…………………….. George Floyd……… Changing Sides – The Duality of the Mask……………….. Lawyer X………………………….. Transgender and Bias…………………………………… Tickle v Giggle for Girls……………………………………… Social Platforms and Media Narratives: A Picture Paints a Thousand Words…………………………… CHAPTER 5 New Linguistic Interpretations and Narratives Science and Knowledge…………………………………………….. Assumptions about the Unknown………………………………….. Australia: R v Folbigg………………… Human Error or Incompetence?..................................................... Canada: Dr Charles Smith……………………………………….. Debunking the Junk Science…………………………………….. Reconstruction Evidence - The Queen v Robert Farquharson……… Memory Science - Pell v The Queen………………….. DNA Exonerations - Ronnie Wallace Long…………………… Digital and Virtual Reality…………………………….. Court Recordings – Depp v Heard The Podcast – R v Dawson Newspapers – George Floyd Television - Pell v The Queen Text Messaging – Lucy Letby From the Micro to the Macro………………………………………………….. Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organisation…………….. George Floyd…………. Lehrmann v Network Ten Pty Ltd………………… Johnny Depp v Amber Heard…………….. CHAPTER Developing A Different Dialogue Understanding the Lens Through Which We See …………………………….. The Requirement of Certainty…… The Process of Generalisations to the Particular…… Culturally Gendered Perceptions in Allocating Blame……. Social Media is the New Communicator………… Jurors……….. The Power of the Post-Structural Feminist lens BIBLIOGRAPHY…… INDEX ……………………

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Author Information

Fiona Hum is Senior Lecturer, Monash University, teaching Evidence for over twenty years. Fiona is a solicitor and barrister of the Supreme Court of Victoria, practising for many years prior to academia. Her research interests include evidence, wrongful convictions, discrimination and injustice issues.

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