What are typical admonitions for a deposition?

Answer 1

Q: Have you ever testified at a deposition before?

A: No.

Q: Okay. Then before we start, let me give you the standard admonition that we give lay witnesses before they testify. The first thing you need to know is that the oath that you took from the court reporter before we went on the record is the same oath that you would take if you were testifying before a judge and jury at the time of trial. And the meaning of the oath is that you agree to testify truthfully today, to the best of your ability, under penalty of perjury. Do you understand?

A: Yes.

Q: Alright. At the end of today's session the court reporter will take her [or his] notes and reduce them into a booklet and you will have the opportunity to review that transcript and make any changes you feel are appropriate. I have to caution you that if you make material changes to the transcript, like a "yes" to a "no" or "green" to "red," then the attorneys in this case will be free to comment upon that at the time of trial and that would hurt your credibility as a witness or even be embarrassing to you. So I ask that you listen carefully to the question and try to provide your best testimony. Fair enough?

A: Okay.

Q. Good deal. Now, as a matter of courtesy to the court reporter, I ask that you please wait until I'm through asking my question before you respond and I'll do my best to wait until you're through answering before I ask my next question . The reason we do it that way is the court reporter can only listen to one of us speaking at any given time and we want to get the best picture of your testimony that we can today. Okay?

A: Yes.

Q: Fine. Now it's also important while you testify today that you answer my questions with verbal responses, meaning words and sentences. "Uh-huh," Uh-uh," bodily gestures, grunts and groans, that sort of thing, don't translate into a good written record and again we want to get the best picture of your testimony that we can. Understood?

A: I understand.

Q: Fantastic. During the course of the deposition you can provide me with estimates but I ask that you don't speculate or guess. Do you understand the difference between the concepts?"

A: Yes.

Q. Are you under the influence of any medication that might affect your ability to recall?

A: No.

Q: Great, let's get started.