New York CPLR 3113 (c) - Interpretation

In Shepherd v Swatling (36 Misc 2d 881, [Sup Ct, Rensselaer County 1962]) Justice Cooke, later the Chief Judge, relied on then-rule 129 of the CPLR, now codified as CPLR 3113 (c), to hold that "since the exclusion of a party on a trial would not be proper, it will not be ordered on the examination before trial." (26 Misc 2d at 882.) CPLR 3113 (c) provides that "examination and cross-examination of deponents shall proceed as permitted in the trial of actions in open court." But CPLR 3113 (c) regulates how examinations before trial are conducted procedurally and directs that trial rules of evidence apply to these pretrial depositions. CPLR 3113 (c) does not incorporate trial rights as understood in the broad constitutional context of the Fifth Amendment as incorporated through the Fourteenth Amendment. More on point than CPLR 3113 (c) is the protective-order provision of CPLR 3103 (a), which allows courts to limit a disclosure device "to prevent disadvantage, or other prejudice to any person or the courts."