Thanks for all the info. I'm wondering how long Jose could legitimately stall saying his schedule didn't allow?
Well, what typically takes place in trying to get a depo scheduled when one attorney is trying to stall it from going forward is this:
(1) Attorney A sends Attorney B a letter saying he wants to take the deposition of Deponant A and that he expects it will take a full day (8 hours)and includes 4-5 of his preferred dates for Attorney B to consider (which, depending upon Attorney A's previously scheduled engagements together with whether the requesting attorney has any need to quickly take the deposition, may or may not even be in the present month or even in the month thereafter
(2) Attorney B responds by saying that none of the dates floated by Attorney A work with his calendar, and further responds by saying that "I've got no full dates left until ___ (fill in the blank with the month that's now after that in which the dates floated by Attorney A fell), and instead of providing dates for this next month, Attorney B's letter goes on to say, "float me those dates in month ___ that work for your calendar, Attorney A", or, to make it tough to schedule, but still be able to argue to a judge that he wasn't being uncooperative, Attorney B will provide dates in month ___, but ONLY 1-2, in the hopes that he's narrowed the odds considerably that Attorney A will be available on either of the date(s) provided;
(3) IF Attorney B failed to provide available date(s) for which he is available, then Attorney A now has to look at his calendar AGAIN, further into the future, and send another letter with his available date(s) for the even-further-into-the-future time frame. At this point, most attorneys in Attorney A's position are going to respond by saying "You, Attorney B, give me your first available date after those I'd already floated and I'll make that work!"
Note that all of the above gets further complicated when (1) trying to get dates from a jail official, since jails have specific rules about when and how long depos may be conducted on the premises (if they have a room suitable, that is, as not all do,) and (2) trying to get dates from a judge and/or courtroom scheduling personnel, if you want or have to take it in the courtroom, and/or desire the judge's availability (in chambers at least, so he can enter and take the bench to rule upon any "objection" that comes up during the depo as it comes up, as I've suggested Morgan should do to prevent Casey/her attorney from trying to urge 5th Amendment as a blanket objection to each and every question posed to her, if said depo takes place before her criminal trial - though some convicted criminals even attempt to do it ad infinitum, due to the fact that they are busy little :bee: trying to appeal their convictions!)
So you can see, in the present case, had Morgan asked for dates in the month of December, it would be quite easy for Baez to say he had nothing available due to his schedule being filled AND the approaching holidays, taking us beyond December and into January, and Baez could then try to delay it into February without Morgan being able to do much about it. If Baez tries the cr@p I mention above, I expect Morgan will do what I always do at that point: quit trying to be "nice," and send out a Notice of Deposition for Casey Anthony on one of the dates that work for his calendar in first week of February and make Baez TRY to file anything in opposition to strike it - trial judges do NOT take kindly to attorneys who deliberately try to stall a civil litigants' right to conduct discovery in their case. I've never lost when dealing with attorneys who attempt these tactics - but you just have to know how to handle them, and I'm betting Morgan's lengthy trial record means he know how.