Slag asked:

David O, I 've always wondered when someone has the court reporter read back some statement does that also get put into the record? Including the re-reading?

Slag, the answer is a definite, unequivocal "maybe".

The transcript might look like this:

Q   Did you shoot the decedent?

    MR. JONES: Could we have the question re-read, please?

    [The reporter read the pending question.]

But suppose the request was a lot later, after the question was answered, and there may have been several objections and argument.

    MR. JONES: Your Honor, could we hear what the original question and answer was?

    [The reporter read a previous question and answer, as follows:

       Question: "Did you shoot the decedent?"

       Answer:   "The gun went off."]
      
The key here is that the reader must be made completely clear on what was read back. In the first example, "the pending question" is fine, because there was no answer given before the readback, so the question is still pending, and it's recent enough (probably on the same page), that with a single glance the reader can find and identify it.

Some formal matters are not reported, but merely summarized:

    [The witness was sworn.]

There is no need to give the actual verbiage of the oath, because it never varies, and as I see it, the administration of the oath is more of an event than speech as such.

There is a difference of opinion among reporters about how to handle such things as "uh-huh", or a nod or shake of the head. Some reporters advocate rendering "uh-huh" or a nod of the head as "yes". I see this as falsifying the record. "Uh-huh" and "huh-uh" are WORDS, and the witness's choice of wording is his and no-one else's. Indeed, how the witness expresses himself may affect the reader's judgment of his education and/or character, and thus his credibility. A nod or a shake of the head, while not verbal, has a culturally understood meaning of positive or negative, and I think it is effectively "speech". If there's a nod or shake of the head, EVERYBODY IN THE COURTROOM knows what the answer was just as clearly as if the words "yes" or "no" were uttered. Indeed, so powerful is the conditioning in our brains that many of those present would later tell you that the witness said the words "yes" or "no".

Sorry, I didn't mean to get off into my lecture mode.

Dave Oesterreich