§ 2064.Subpoenaed witness; attendance; answering questions

This section states the core bargain a subpoena creates. A witness who has been served does not get to pick and choose: the witness must show up at the appointed time, bring along whatever papers are under the witness’s control and lawfully demanded by the subpoena, and answer every question that is both pertinent to the matter and legal in form. None of those four duties is optional once service has been made, and the section attaches no exception for inconvenience or reluctance.

The last clause is easy to overlook but matters in practice: a witness who has taken the stand cannot leave once the immediate questions run out. The obligation to remain continues until the testimony is closed, unless the court or the party who called the witness discharges the witness sooner. And the requirement to answer only “pertinent and legal” questions is not a license for the witness to decide on the spot what counts as fair game; it describes the kind of question a witness can be made to answer, while leaving the actual ruling on whether a given question crosses that line to whoever is presiding. A witness who balks at a question still has to raise the objection through the proper channel rather than refusing outright to respond.