Can you get out of a subpoena for family emergency?

Answer 1

You should be able to get out of it if it is a true family emergency, however you would have to get permission from the court to do so. In a more practical sense, you can probably adjust the day and time you are supposed to be in court in order to take care of the emergency if possible.

Keep in mind that the subpoena will be for a date the trial is expected to begin, but you may not be scheduled to testify until a day or more later, especially if you are a defendant's witness. Contact the attorney who issued the subpoena to try to work your actual appearance around your emergency. Most witnesses are subpoenaed and told to be on call rather than show up for the first day of trial. That means you don't have to be there on the date specified in the subpoena unless you are called in. When you are expected to be called to testify you will be told enough time in advance to stop whatever you are doing and get down to the courthouse.

Another technique that is used to work around a witness's emergency is to take his testimony out of turn if it is at all possible, subject to being recalled if need be.

There are ways these conflicts can be handled without simply hauling the witness to the courthouse regardless of his situation.