(a) At any time after charges have been signed, as provided in section 124B-51, any party may take oral or written depositions unless an authority competent to convene a court-martial for the trial of those charges forbids it for good cause. If a deposition is to be taken before charges are referred for trial, an authority may designate commissioned officers to represent the prosecution and the defense and may authorize those officers to take the deposition of any witness.
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Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 124B-74

  • county: includes the city and county of Honolulu. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 1-22
  • Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Military: refers to any or all of the armed forces. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 124B-1
  • Officer: means a commissioned officer. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 124B-1
  • Testify: Answer questions in court.
  • Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
(b) The party at whose instance a deposition is to be taken shall give to every other party reasonable written notice of the time and place for taking the deposition.
(c) Depositions may be taken before and authenticated by any military or civil officer authorized by the laws of the State or by the laws of the place where the deposition is taken to administer oaths or affirmations.
(d) A duly authenticated deposition taken upon reasonable notice to the other parties, so far as otherwise admissible under the rules of evidence, may be read into evidence before any court-martial or in any proceeding before a court of inquiry, if it appears that:

(1) The witness resides or is beyond the county in which the court-martial or court of inquiry is ordered to sit;
(2) The witness by reason of death, age, sickness, bodily infirmity, imprisonment, military necessity, non-amenability to process, or other reasonable cause is unable or refuses to appear and testify in person at the place of trial or hearing; or
(3) The present whereabouts of the witness are unknown.
(e) Representation of the parties with respect to a deposition shall be by counsel detailed in the same manner as trial counsel and defense counsel are detailed under section 124B-47. In addition, the accused shall have the right to be represented by civilian or military counsel in the same manner as counsel are provided for in section 124B-63.

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