Art. 1470 Failure to comply with order compelling discovery; contempt

If someone refuses to take an oath or refuses to answer a question during a deposition, even after a judge has ordered them to do so, they can be held in contempt of court. This applies whether the case is still active or if it already resulted in a judgment.

The contempt charge is handled by the court in the parish where the deposition is actually taking place, not necessarily where the original case is being heard. This means a witness cannot simply ignore a judge's order to answer questions or be sworn in during a deposition. If they do, they face legal consequences for disobeying the court, and those consequences are decided locally, based on where the deposition happened.