My first subpoena...

CaliFFL

Last week I was served at work by the county sheriff's deputies. In about 45 minutes, (08:30 PST) I have to testify under oath. Also a first for me.

After my testimony, I'll give details of the case.

Just thought I'd share.

jbp-ohio

Civil or criminal trial?

JerryBobCo

CaliFFL wrote: »

Last week I was served at work by the county sheriff's deputies. In about 45 minutes, (08:30 PST) I have to testify under oath. Also a first for me.

After my testimony, I'll give details of the case.

Just thought I'd share.

Let me break the word down for you.

First, sub mean below or under.

Everyone knows what a poena is.

Just think about what's under the peona, and you'll have a full understanding of your situation.

tennmike

subpoena: [Latin, Under penalty.] A formal document that orders a named individual to appear before a duly authorized body at a fixed time to give testimony.

sub: below

In Roman mythology, Poena (also Poine) is the spirit of punishment and the attendant of punishment to Nemesis, the goddess of divine retribution.

Failure to appear as required by the subpena can be punished as contempt of court if it appears the absence was intentional or without cause.

Nemesis (the judge) will bring down divine retribution via Poena if ya don't show up! :silly:

olesniper

Got one, 4 or 5 years ago. Called in to testify against a drunk, that was fighting with the girl that lived next door to me. There was a narrow driveway between the houses and Mr. Hogshooter (yes......his real name) came flying down of the driveway and the mirror on his truck smashed a window on my house. Sat there, next to my landlord, while the court went through 30+ hearings of the people being held in jail, before they even came to our case. Sat and listened to several people testify about other events this guy was involved in. Then the prosecutor started to tell the judge about the incident I was to testify about. The defendant's lawyer jumped up and said that wouldn't be fair because his client's witnesses were unable to appear. The judge said they would handle that on another day and told the lawyer he could present his side of the events, already covered. The seating in the courtroom was kinda like a movie theater, each row of seats was one step higher, the further back you go. We were seating back just far enough to be level with the judge and right in front of him. When he told the defendant's lawyer to start bring up his witnesses, I looked at the judge, opened my eyes real wide and put both open hands in out in front of me, in the classic "" gesture. The judge saw me and told the lawyer to hold up. He turned to the prosecutor and asked if we would be needed. The prosecutor started flipping through papers, while saying, " Well, your Honor........I......uh......let me see.....uh...." The judge cut him off and told us we were free to leave and apologized for wasting 4 hours of our time. Never heard anything after that.

JerryBobCo

olesniper wrote: »

Got one, 4 or 5 years ago. Called in to testify against a drunk, that was fighting with the girl that lived next door to me. There was a narrow driveway between the houses and Mr. Hogshooter (yes......his real name) came flying down of the driveway and the mirror on his truck smashed a window on my house. Sat there, next to my landlord, while the court went through 30+ hearings of the people being held in jail, before they even came to our case. Sat and listened to several people testify about other events this guy was involved in. Then the prosecutor started to tell the judge about the incident I was to testify about. The defendant's lawyer jumped up and said that wouldn't be fair because his client's witnesses were unable to appear. The judge said they would handle that on another day and told the lawyer he could present his side of the events, already covered. The seating in the courtroom was kinda like a movie theater, each row of seats was one step higher, the further back you go. We were seating back just far enough to be level with the judge and right in front of him. When he told the defendant's lawyer to start bring up his witnesses, I looked at the judge, opened my eyes real wide and put both open hands in out in front of me, in the classic "" gesture. The judge saw me and told the lawyer to hold up. He turned to the prosecutor and asked if we would be needed. The prosecutor started flipping through papers, while saying, " Well, your Honor........I......uh......let me see.....uh...." The judge cut him off and told us we were free to leave and apologized for wasting 4 hours of our time. Never heard anything after that.

It's been my experience that the court system never cares about wasting someone's time. I'm surprised that this judge did. You must have had one of the rare good ones.

bullsi1911

JerryBobCo wrote: »

It's been my experience that the court system never cares about wasting someone's time. I'm surprised that this judge did. You must have had one of the rare good ones.

Or his tee time was coming up

JerryBobCo

bullsi1911 wrote: »

Or his tee time was coming up

I'm surprised that he apologized, regardless of why he shut down the session.

LMLarsen

I've testified a few times in my career. Opposing counsel hated me; on cross examination I would basically respond like Jack Nicholson at lunch in "A Few Good Men."

Answer only what I was asked, never elaborate.

NCFUBAR

LMLarsen wrote: »

I've testified a few times in my career. Opposing counsel hated me; on cross examination I would basically respond like Jack Nicholson at lunch in "A Few Good Men."

Answer only what I was asked, never elaborate.

Yep, they hate "yes" or "no" or the worse was start with "I can only speculate ..." because opposing counsel jumps all over that one.

CaliFFL

jbp-ohio wrote: »

Civil or criminal trial?

Civil. I'm on a witness list for an industrial accident that ended with some injuries. There are WAY more details, but the state wants HUGE fines, and the company is fighting it.

olesniper

JerryBobCo wrote: »

It's been my experience that the court system never cares about wasting someone's time. I'm surprised that this judge did. You must have had one of the rare good ones.

He must have been. He never questioned me, about my reaction. After releasing us, he said we were free to stay and watch the rest of the proceedings, if we wished. We, both, said no thank you and left.
What burnt my butt, was the fact that I should have had 4 hours overtime, at time and a half, on that week's pay, and lost it.

tubabucknut

I testified in a murder trial about 12 years ago. My co-worker was murdered by her boyfriend. I was one of the ones that found her, and I had to verify she was dead, it was a stabbing. It is still the worst thing I have ever seen. It boggles the mind how much blood the human body holds. Anyway, the defense tried to say I repositioned the body, and that I was testifying because I was a racist. He got twenty years. Hard to believe he will be out in less than ten years.

KMT2

CaliFFL wrote: »

Civil. I'm on a witness list for an industrial accident that ended with some injuries. There are WAY more details, but the state wants HUGE fines, and the company is fighting it.

been in a few of those but on the state side.
Usually won my case.

BigDanS

Twice, once for a divorce, once Federal criminal.

Answer the questions and do not elaborate. You are under oath, do not lie, but do not volunteer anything more than is required. Do not incriminate yourself if you have anything close to involvement, as your testimony is basically a confession at that point.

D

jaywapti

Three times for divorce, 2 times civil, 4 times criminal, always be very careful of what you say, and never get mad or offer anything additional unless you have discussed with your lawyer.

JAY

Rocketman

5th

KMT2

BigDanS wrote: »

Twice, once for a divorce, once Federal criminal.

Answer the questions and do not elaborate. You are under oath, do not lie, but do not volunteer anything more than is required. Do not incriminate yourself if you have anything close to involvement, as your testimony is basically a confession at that point.

D

what he said.