This paper argues that drawing upon the (written documents in) the case file in a criminal trial is ineluctable, as showing (or refuting) a defendant’s criminal responsibility essentially relies upon the conversion of discourses created at prior trial stages into licit evidence. Detailed exploration of the sundry discursive processes via which intertextual links with the case file are fixed is thus crucial for grasping precisely how trial partakers parley event versions with particular legal consequences.