Change Date of Deposition

by Anonymous from Florida

How to I file with the court to change the date of a deposition in a criminal matter for a minor child victim? My minor child is unavailable on a date for a subpoena as a witness for a deposition in a criminal matter.

The State's Attorney's office is flexible, but the defense council is not being reasonable.

What form do we use to get relief from the court in this matter? We are simply looking for a change of date as the child has a event that we can't reschedule.

Answer to Florida Court Forms Question

Dear Anonymous,

Go back to the State Attorney, and explain the problem again.

In criminal law, the victim is a witness; the perpetrator is the defendant; and the state is the prosecution or plaintiff.

The defense attorney would be thrilled if a key witness was not available for deposition, because then all the defense attorney has to say, is - Your Honor, no victim, no crime.

Find out if your state attorney's office has a victim advocate that might help get the deposition rescheduled. You could explain to the state attorney or victim advocate, that your child has already been victimized.

Also, you could explain that you do not want your child to suffer further damage by being forced to miss an event that your child has anticipated all year.

You could also explain to them that this event is important to your child's emotional well being, after having been a crime victim, a return to normalcy is of paramount importance. Ask the state attorney to have the case continued until your child can be deposed.

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