Texas Criminal Lawyer Blog

Subpoena comes from the Latin "Sub" (under) and "poena" (penalty). Black's Law Dictionary defines the word as " A process to cause a witness to appear and give testimony, commanding him to lay aside all pretenses and excuses, and appear before a court or magistrate therein named at a time therein mentioned to testify for the party named under a penalty therein mentioned."

A subpoena is issued by the clerk of the court where the appearance of the witness is required, upon the application of the attorney for the party requesting the subpoena.

Posted by Michael J. Brown | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Texas Criminal Law Glossary

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Hearsay is what somebody else told the witness. "She told me that...." I heard that...." Simply put, hearsay is something somebody else said, rather than what the witness saw or did. It can be quite complicated, and many volumes have been written about it. I always tell a witness not to testify what somebody else said, but just tell the jury what he/she witnessed, not what somebody else told them about what happened.

Posted by Michael J. Brown | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Texas Criminal Law Glossary

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