NUMBERING PAGES

Number pages in the center of the page 1/2 inch (three lines) from the bottom of the page. If, during the course of transcribing the record, you accidentally skip a page number or duplicate a page number, correct the error as follows:

SKIPPED PAGE NUMBER-for example, numbers jump from 18 to 20, but nothing has been omitted from the transcript.

18

There is no page 19

Next page 20

NUMBER DUPLICATED OR EXTRA PAGE TO BE INSERTED-use the preccding page number plus an "a" as in "19a." At the bottom of the preceding page, type:

19

Next page is 19a

On the inserted page, type:

19a

Next page 20

ABBREVIATIONS

Unless a word or acronym is actually spoken as an abbreviation; for example, BM1, USS, or U.S. Navy, only the following abbreviations are authorized. Keep in mind that you use the first four of these abbreviations only as prefixes to statements and they are not authorized for use in the text or when transcribing gestures or motions. The last five may he used in the text of the record:

TC: Trial counsel

DC: Defense counsel

PRES: President

MJ: Military judge

Mr. Mister

Mrs. Mistress

U.S. United States

USS United States Ship

Dr. Doctor

GRAMMAR AND PUNCTUATION IN TRANSCRIPTION

You have previously studied general punctuation in chapter 1. Certain rules are covered here because you have a greater need to be familiar with them in legal work than in typing correspondence.

Use the apostrophe (') to form contractions; to form possessives of nouns (but not of pronouns); as a single quotation mark; to express feet and minutes; and to form the exclamation mark (unless your typewriter or computer keyboard has an exclamation mark on its keyboard). You form the plurals of letters and of numbers by adding 's. Within a word the apostrophe is written without spaces. Examples: It's not true that a company reported its change of policy. Boys' and girls' camps are advertised in this month's issue. Appellate is spelled with two L's.

Two spaces must follow a question mark (?) that appears at the end of a sentence. However, in the rare instances that the question mark appears within a sentence, leave only one space after the question mark. Examples: Q. Can he do it? or anyone? Q. What was the percentage of interest you paid?

Do not leave spaces between brackets [ ]and the matter enclosed. In the event the matter appearing in brackets appears in the middle of a sentence, leave one space before the opening bracket and one space after the closing bracket. Example: Q. What did you see? A. About this far [gesturing] from the hammer, on the upper side of. . .

Place the period and the comma inside the closing quotation marks (") except in congressional and certain other classes of work showing amendments, and in court work with quoted language. Punctuation marks are printed after the quotation marks when not a part of the quoted matter, Examples: Insert the words "growth", "production", and "manufacture". This court finds you Guilty, except the word "steal", substituting therefor . . .

Place the semicolon (;) and the colon (:) outside

the closing quotation marks. The question mark and the exclamation mark must be placed outside the closing quotation marks if the marks punctuate the _{entire sentence.} Place them inside the closing quotation marks if they punctuate the quoted material only. Examples: As I was saying, "Seeing is believing." Did you see the sign, "Off Limits"? He asked me, "What is the punishment for shooting a man with a pistol'?" All he said was, "What an awful mess!"

Use the single quotation mark (') when a quotation is enclosed within a quotation. Example: He answered, "I am not willing positively to say, 'Seaman Jones is the guilty one."

The rules on end spacing are as follows: Two spaces must follow all end punctuation marks, and two spaces must follow the colon.

When writing whole numbers, the numbers one through nine must be spelled out except when used in conjunction with other numbers in a series (example,

_{1, 2, 12, 25, and} 50); as a measurement (example, 1 inch); time (example, 3 p.m.); decimals (example, 1.25); age (example, 6 years old); or as a percentage (example, 2%).

At the beginning of a sentence, numbers must be spelled out (example, Five years ago), except in questions and answers (Q. and A.) when time, _{money, percentage,} serial numbers, and so on, are concerned. In such cases use the numerals. Show dates as they are spoken in court (example, 1 June 1993 or 1st of June 1993). Always use numerals where monetary values are concerned and the money is a specific amount. If the amount is referred to in a general way, use words instead of figures. Examples: Q. How much money was in the bag? A. About a million dollars. Q. Exactly how much? A. $1,055,000.00.

When writing fractions and whole numbers, transcribe the fraction by separating the figures with a slant (/); examples: 1/4, 1/2, 1/3, 5/8, 7/8, and 3 3/4. Do not use the fractions that appear on the keyboard. The reason for this is your fractions will be typed consistently throughout the record, since most keyboards have only the 1/4 and 1/2 fractions. An exception to this rule would be when the military judge or president of the court gives instructions, closes to vote on the findings and sentence, and states "three-fourths (or two-thirds) of the members present at the time the vote was taken concurring . . ." Type these fractions using words.