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Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rule 17
RULE 17. SUBPOENA
(a) For Attendance of Witnesses; Form; Issuance. Every subpoena shall be issued by the clerk or other authorized officer of the court. It shall state the name of the court and the title of the proceeding, and it shall command each person to whom it is directed to attend and give testimony at the time and place and for the party specified therein. The clerk or other authorized officer shall issue a subpoena, or a subpoena for the production of documentary evidence, signed but otherwise in blank to a party requesting it, who shall fill in the blanks before it is served.
(b) Defendants Unable to Pay. The court shall order at any time that a subpoena be issued for service on a named witness upon an ex parte application of a defendant upon a satisfactory showing that the defendant is financially unable to pay the fees of the witness and that the presence of the witness is necessary to an adequate defense. If the court orders the subpoena to be issued, the costs incurred by the process and the fees of the witness so subpoenaed shall be paid in the same manner in which similar costs and fees are paid in case of a witness subpoenaed in behalf of the state.
(c) For Production of Documentary Evidence and of Objects. A subpoena may also command a person to whom it is directed to produce the books, papers, documents, or tangible things designated therein. The court, upon motion made promptly and in any event by the time specified in the subpoena for compliance therewith, may quash or modify the subpoena if compliance would be unreasonable or oppressive. The court may condition denial of the motion upon the advancement by the party in whose behalf the subpoena is issued of the reasonable cost of producing the books, papers, documents or tangible things. The court may direct that books, papers, documents or tangible things designated in the subpoena be produced before the court at a time prior to the trial or prior to the time when they are to be offered in evidence and may upon their production permit them to be inspected by the parties and their attorneys.
(d) Service. A subpoena may be served by any person authorized to serve process, or the witness may acknowledge service in writing on the subpoena. Service of the subpoena shall be made by delivering or offering to deliver a copy thereof to the person to whom it is directed or by leaving a copy thereof with an adult occupant of the person's usual place of residence.
(e) Place of Service. A subpoena requiring the attendance of a witness at a hearing or trial may be served any place within the state.
(f) For Taking Depositions; Place of Examination.
(1) An order to take a deposition authorizes the issuance by the clerk of the court in which the proceeding is pending of subpoenas for the persons named or described therein.
(2) A resident of the state may be required to give a deposition only in the county wherein the person resides or is employed or transacts the person's business in person or at such other convenient place as is fixed by the court. A non-resident of the state may be required to attend only in the county where the non-resident is served with subpoena or at such other place as is fixed by the court.
(g) Contempt. Refusal by any person without adequate excuse to obey a subpoena served upon the person may be deemed a contempt of the court from which the subpoena issued.
(h) Information Not Subject to Subpoena. Statements by witnesses or prospective witnesses may not be subpoenaed from the state or the defendant under this rule, but shall be subject to production only in accordance with the provisions of Rule 26.2.
[Amended effective August 22, 1984.]
This rule is an adaptation of the federal rule. The first provision of section (f)(2) is taken from the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 45.04(2). The last clause of the last sentence in section (d), permitting service of a subpoena by leaving a copy at the prospective witness's usual place of residence, in the hands of an adult occupant, is a procedural product of the Commission and essentially follows Tennessee civil rules.
Comment to 1984 Amendment
Rule 17(h) is identical to its federal counterpart. This provision only makes it clear that the proper method to secure witness statements from the opposing side--either at trial or at a pretrial hearing under Rule 12(b)--is as set forth in Rule 26.2.
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