Select the option that expresses the given sentence in direct voice. The judge said that the defendant’s plea of not guilty had been a waste of the court’s time, as the evidence which had been presented by the prosecution had clearly proven that he was guilty.
"The defendant’s plea of not guilty has been a waste of the court’s time, as the evidence which was presented by the prosecution has clearly proven that he is guilty," the judge said.
The reported sentence must be turned back into the judge's exact spoken words, so the backshift of tenses is reversed and each verb moves one step towards the present.
Rule: past perfect in reported speech usually reverts either to simple past or to present perfect, depending on the sense; here the judge is commenting on a situation still in force, so present perfect is natural.
Thus 'had been a waste' returns to the present perfect 'has been a waste', the form the judge would actually have uttered.
The past perfect passive 'had been presented' returns to the simple past passive 'was presented', a completed act.
Likewise 'had clearly proven' returns to 'has clearly proven', and the reported 'he was guilty' returns to the direct present 'he is guilty'.
Option A wrongly makes the first clause simple past 'was a waste'; option C keeps 'had clearly proven' and 'he was guilty'; option D leaves everything in the past perfect, so none reverse the shift correctly.
Only option B applies all reversals consistently, so the correct direct form is "The defendant’s plea of not guilty has been a waste of the court’s time, as the evidence which was presented by the prosecution has clearly proven that he is guilty," the judge said.
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