Art. 1430.1.Ex Parte Order; Death Or Incapacitating Illness

Articles 1429 and 1430 assume there's time for notice and a contradictory hearing before testimony gets perpetuated. Article 1430.1 is the emergency exception: when a witness is dying or gravely ill, waiting out the normal process could mean the testimony never gets preserved at all. Rather than notice-then-hearing, the court can act first and require notice afterward.

Two findings support that order: the facts in the petition have to show a reasonable belief that there's a substantial possibility the witness will die or become too incapacitated to testify before a contradictory hearing could happen, and the interest of justice has to require perpetuating the testimony immediately.

If the court grants the order, the petitioner then gives reasonable written notice to the expected adverse party -- covering the time, place, and manner of the deposition, who's being examined, and the subject matter -- and, if that adverse party is a minor or incompetent, sends the notice to a court-appointed attorney instead. There's no appeal from the grant or denial of an ex parte order under this article, and whether the perpetuated testimony is admissible when it's later offered is governed by the Louisiana Code of Evidence.

This procedure supplements, rather than replaces, any other way the law allows testimony to be perpetuated -- including the ordinary Article 1429-1430 route.