Owen J. Roberts

“ In Ohio a notary has been held not to be a judicial officer within the meaning of the state Constitution; but we think that he may nevertheless be authorized to pass upon the witness' privilege. We find no decision of the Supreme Court of Ohio holding the notary incompetent to consider and to pass in the first instance upon the propriety of a witness' refusal to answer. No such lack of power appears upon the face of the statutes. ”

“ In Ohio, as generally elsewhere, the officer taking a deposition does not rule upon the competency or materiality of the evidence to the issues made by the pleadings. The witness' testimony is taken subject to the reserved right to object to its admissibility at the trial. The right of objection and exclusion belongs to the parties, not to the witness. So far as disclosed, the refusal to answer and produce documents was based solely on the theory that the petition in the suit did not state a cause of action and that the depositions constituted a fishing expedition for evidence. ”

“ A party, or if the party be a corporation, any officer thereof, may be examined as if under cross examination (section 11497) .
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work of the United States federal government (see 17 U.S.C. 105) . ”