Depositions: audio or video recordings.

Existing law, the Civil Discovery Act, provides procedures for parties to obtain discovery by various methods, including by taking oral and written depositions, and authorizes parties to modify these procedures by written stipulation, unless otherwise ordered by the court. The act also provides procedures for the recording of depositions by means of audio or video technology. A party who intends to offer an audio or video recording of the deposition in evidence must accompany the offer with a stenographic transcript prepared from the recording, unless a stenographic record was previously prepared. This bill would clarify that a stenographic transcript accompanying an audio or video recording of deposition testimony offered into evidence must be prepared by a certified shorthand reporter. It would also restate the ability of parties to modify the act's procedures for the recording of oral depositions by means of audio or video technology.