Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: Court Subpoenas

If you are not served with the subpoena, you don't have to go. Other than that, you risk contempt if you don't show. Continue your offer to all attorneys to have a deposition or declaration.

Re: Court Subpoenas

It sounds like you have not actually been subpoenaed yet, and the mere possibility that you will be is no reason for you to forego your honeymoon. Of course, the possibility remains that you will be subpoenaed soon.

Relying on phone conversations with a secretery is not terribly prudent. Write a letter to the lawyer explaining the situation and including your offer to submit to a deposition instead of appearing for trial, and be sure toi request a written response by a specific date. Threaten to move for a protective order and to seek sanctions if he/she will not agree to some arrangement which will permit you to go on your honeymoon. CC: the letter to all the other lawyers in the case and keep a copy for your records. The lawyers will almost certainly write back that you are not going to be subpoenaed or that they will arrange a deposition beforehand.

If they are not willing to offer some assurance that you can go on your honeymoon, you should be able to move for a protective order barring a subpoena that would conflict with your honeymoon plans. Any party opposing your motion without substantial basis would be subject to sanctions equal to your attorney's fees, so there is a very good chance this effort would not cost you anything.

If your testimony is central to the trial, then this strikes me as a good reason to postpone the trial itself. Even the harshest of judges would have a hard time justifying an order that a non-party skip a pre-paid honeymoon in order to accommodate somebody else's trial schedule.