On Wed, May 23, 2001 at 04:17:21AM +0000, David E. Smith wrote:
>
> Having been on the business end of a couple of subpoenas, I believe I know
> what was being referred to. If the Federales want me to go to, oh, let's
> just say Tacoma, they can give me a cab to the airport and tickets and a
> hotel. In advance.
They will give you electronic tickets to Tacoma. But they will be very
inconvenient, require at least one stop on a x-country trip, and be subject
to their whim in terms of last-minute changes. See my post here about
someone, apparently Jeff Gordon, screwing around with my tickets a few
hours before I was due to leave and not telling me.
They will put you up at government rates (<$85/night) at a government-
issue motel or cheap hotel a few miles outside of Tacoma. You will be
expected to pay for a cab to the hotel from the airport and a cab from
the hotel to the courthouse. Then you will be sequestered and required
to sit on hard wooden benches outside the courtroom for perhaps many
days until they decide to call you.
You will be reimbursed and paid $20 or thereabouts per day for your
"witness fee."
I have not asked to be reimbursed or paid the witness fee. I don't
believe reporters should receive payment when subpoena'd to testify
unwillingly in a trial (even if the prosecutor didn't get anything
from me and asked the judge to declare me a hostile witness, the point
still stands).
-Declan
