What is a deposition in legal terms?
A deposition is the sworn testimony of a person which is recorded by an official court recorder. A deposition is different than testimony at a trial because it is not given in the prescence of a judge. However, it is considered testimony given under oath. It can be used to contradict testimony given at trial by the same witness. For example, if at a depostion the witness says he saw a blue 4-door Ford Taurus and later at the trial he states he saw a red two door Chevy, a depostion statement can be used to show the witness has changed his story.
