Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Re: witness doesn't show up to court

As a practical matter, the judge normally gives the party calling the witness some more time to get the witness there, but can and might order the sheriff to go get the witness. I had a case where the treating physician refused to appear because he was too busy and the judge was about to order him thrown into jail but the attorneys reached a compromise on getting his testimony in. If you are the witness who is thinking of not showing up, the consequences of failing to appear can be much more serious than you think. Also, if you were the party trying to get you to testify, how would you feel about someone not showing up?