Case Name: Harris v. Peterson
Court: Supreme Court of North Carolina
Jurisdiction: North Carolina
Decision Date: 1816-01
Citations: 2 Car. L. Rep.  471
Docket Number: 
Parties: Harris v. Peterson.
Judges: 
Reporter: North Carolina Reports
Volume: 5
Pages: 471–472

Head Matter:
Harris v. Peterson.
The question reserved in this case, was upon the sufficiency of a notice to take a deposition. The notice was to take the deposition on one of three days which were specified, viz. as days of the week and of the month, at a certain house in Putnam County, in the State of Georgia.

Opinion:
Taylor, C.J.
—As the design of notice is to give the party the benefit of a cross-examination, its regularity must, in a great degree depend upon the circumstances of the case, and can oftener be tested by the dictates of good sense and sound discretion, than by any general rule applicable to all cases. It could not for example safely be laid down as a rule, that such a notice as this might be practised in all cases; for if the parties and witness lived near together, there would not only be no necessity for it, but it might tend to ensnare the party noticed, and aid the other in procuring testimony in a fraudulent manner. But where the witness lives at a great distance from the parties, and only one day is named, many accidents may intervene to prevent his arrival there; whereby the deposition is not taken, and justice is delayed. All this is avoided by naming two or more successive days; and as the witness lived in Georgia, in this case, we are of opinion that the notice was good.