Rule 1.939 Witnesses

Here's what this rule means: if a case is being heard by a master (a person appointed by the court to handle certain hearings), witnesses can be called to testify just like they would be in a regular trial. Any party involved in the case has the right to subpoena, or officially require, a witness to show up and give testimony.

If a witness gets subpoenaed but doesn't show up, or shows up but refuses to testify, they can get in trouble for it. The consequences are the same as if they had skipped out on testifying at a regular trial in front of a judge. This means a witness can't ignore a subpoena just because the hearing is in front of a master instead of a judge in a courtroom.

The only exception is if the witness has a good reason for not appearing or not testifying. If they have a valid excuse, they won't face punishment. But without a good reason, the same rules and penalties that apply to trial witnesses apply here too.