Q. My wife is a second-grade teacher. She is pregnant with twins and was recently put on bedrest. She is due the first week of July.
The parents of one of the children in her class are in the midst of a difficult divorce. Last spring my wife filed a report with DCF because of bruises she saw on the child and things he said to her. Both children were taken away from both parents and placed with an aunt. The parents are each trying to get custody back.
A Guardian Ad Litem interviewed my wife last December. I just got a subpoena for my wife to appear at a deposition. I called the lawyer and said she cannot be there. He told me if she did not appear for a deposition, we would have to pay the costs for failing to appear and the judge could hold her in contempt. He said it is fine for her not to appear in person, but they will ask her questions over Zoom.
Does my wife have to do this just because they sent a subpoena?
A. Technically a subpoena is a legal document that does require someone’s presence. However, there are exceptions. In these circumstances, requiring your wife to be deposed is not reasonable even over Zoom. Given the circumstances, I suspect you are also under a fair bit of stress, and recommend you farm this task out to an attorney.
Your first step is to get a letter from your wife’s doctor stating her condition and explaining how stress could impact her health and that of the babies, and stating that she is unavailable to be deposed for the foreseeable future. Once the babies are born, she will need some period of time to recover and will be caring for newborns around the clock. The more detail your wife is willing to let the doctor disclose the more likely a judge will rule she does not need to be deposed.
Once you have the letter, file a motion to quash the subpoena and for a protective order which means you are looking for a court order to say the subpoena has no significance and your wife does not need to appear for a deposition. The reality is your wife set in motion a means of protecting this child, but others got involved after her call. These other people have just as much if not more information about the situation, so your wife’s testimony is not truly needed.
Email questions to whickey@brickjones.com