Non Party Witness or Defendaant

A person who is neither a defendant or plaintiff is a non party witness when called to a Federal Court case and enjoys some protection under Rule 12 from excessive behavior from Counsel of Defendant or Plaintiff. A notary was given a subpoena for a deposition where the Plaintiff was suing several defendants for ten million dollars over an adoption case where the child was taken from VA to Utah. According to the notary the original subpoena was overreaching. However, the Defendant's attorney got to see some of the overreaching material but got only to keep notary journal entries regarding the adoption case.All the attorneys got to see the 2008 VA notary Handbook since the notarization occurred in early 2009. The case never went to trial since the parties entered in to a sealed agreement. It is strongly recommended that a notary under subpoena bring a lawyer to any deposition since you have no idea if you are dealing with dolphins with law degree or sharks or pit bulls with law degrees. Furthermore, the notary can be intimidated if the testimony could result a substantial prison sentence for one or more of the parties after the civil procedure has been resolved. All VA notaries must remember, the former mayor of Detroit went to Federal and State Prison because he lied to a Michigan notary. VA notaries are required to fully co-operate with all criminal investigators.A sealed civil settlement does not preclude a criminal investigation. When a VA notary is served with bill of complaint alleging errors, the notary should notify the insurance company immediately to obtain counsel. This is another reason to carry insurance and maintain a notary journal even though VA does require notaries to have one.