Over the next several days, the Senate will (potentially) be voting on whether to subpoena individuals to testify in the impeachment trial of President Donald J. Trump.  With the caution that an impeachment trial is not quite like a regular trial that you would see if you headed to your local courthouse, the following are some terms that you may hear from Senators and talking heads during this discussion.

Subpoena — Stripped of its fancy title, a subpoena is an order to a person to appear in court to testify or to turn over documents to the parties.   In most courts, subpoenas issue upon request by a party almost automatically.  If there is a reason why that subpoena is improper, the witness can ask to “quash” (effectively cancel) the subpoena or one of the other parties can ask to exclude the witness.  For an impeachment trial, because the Senate is both judge and jury, the Senate needs to approve the subpoena.

Deposition — A deposition is out-of-court testimony.   The attorneys for the witness get to ask questions just like it was in court and a court reporter takes down the questions and answers.  The court reporter then prepares a transcript (a printed booklet containing all of the questions and answers, word for word).  Often depositions are used either to discover what a witness might say or because the witness is not available for trial.  (Typically, depositions are used for medical witnesses who can make time available after work for a deposition but would be unable to wait in court for their turn to testify without putting patients at risk.)  A deposition also allows parties to decide what part of a witness’s testimony they actually want to use. Continue Reading...