Le Mot Juste

A submission in court can stand or fall on the judicious (forgive the pun) choice of words. I remember a contested bail application some time ago where the defendant was represented by an obviously nervous solicitor whom we had not seen before, and who we suspected was pretty new to the job. Despite her nerves, she put up a clear and comprehensive argument as to why we should not take the Crown's case at face value, offering her client's acccount of what had happened. A shame, then, that she concluded with the killer statement: "That is my client's excuse, and it is the excuse he will give at his trial." In the interests of justice we substituted 'explanation' when deliberating and drew no adverse inference from her use of the word 'excuse'.