STATE OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA
CASE 1234 BETWEEN: THE STATE OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Plaintiff
and
Defendant
PART 1: TESTIMONY OF A CHILD UNDER 18 YEARS OF AGELorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
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3. I give evidence on CCTV in a room with dark navy walls. Navy is a trustworthy colour: the judges and lawyers wear navy blue robes; my school uniform has navy polyester pants. Today I dress for a wake. The fabric is as coarse as the ashes handed back to us. We must know who caused this death. Children rarely die from natural causes.
4. Someone explains how the cross-examination will take place, the kinds of questions I will not face, have faced anyway back home (for every man I meet now, I wonder; would he found guilty if he raped me?). This service is a court date, is a date I have dressed up for. I tell my boyfriend about this other guy. I testify and he is there, but the camera stays tight on his lawyer’s face; we are being chaperoned today. They ask about my dating history, my intentions. None of their questions help them get to know me, none of them are open-ended.
5. I put to you that
you stole money from
this did not happen / I put to you
I put to you
that this is not true
this is not true
do you need a break? / I put to you
is that correct? / Was it the case
that you lied to
I put to you
that you lied when /
I put to you / is that true?
6. Someone’s chair is scratching their weight into the marble floors. Is it him, uncomfortable with my answers?
7. I tell them about the soil composition in his room, the carpet fibres that felt like dried grass in summer.
8. This service says:
I think we might be
getting lost /
she’s already answered
the question.
9. This service walks me down the aisle, manila folders are pressed like corsages into people’s chests. This service is a funeral that is poorly attended. This funeral is live-streamed and password protected. They ask me to perform for him. Entrance into this kind of show is usually expensive.
10. The house I’m living in has no walls. The seasons of this court case make it in. My doona is wet. The bed is floating. I use it as a raft.
11. I’m 32 years old now, and I often struggle to answer questions. Inside my head I’m still giving evidence.
