Donny Ray Black gives testimony at home is a deposition rearranged around a dying witness’s physical limits, and it becomes the means by which the jury can encounter him after he is gone. Held beneath an oak tree in the backyard of Dot Black and Buddy Black, the proceeding preserves Donny Ray’s account on video while testing whether Rudy Baylor can conduct a careful evidentiary examination under extraordinary circumstances.

Causes and Arrangements

The deposition had originally been scheduled for Rudy Baylor and Deck Shifflet’s new office. On the Friday before it was due to take place, Dot Black told Rudy that Donny Ray was bedridden and could not leave home. The deposition itself had been worrying him and had left him weak. Rudy asked Leo F. Drummond to move it to the family’s house, but Drummond refused, insisting that the rules required postponement and a new notice. Rudy then contacted Judge Tyrone Kipler, who called Drummond and arranged for the deposition to proceed at the Blacks’ home the next day.

Kipler’s presence was unusual but purposeful. Donny Ray was gravely ill, and the deposition might be the only opportunity to record his testimony. Kipler also anticipated that disputes between counsel could interrupt the proceedings; with the judge present to rule on objections, he could prevent a procedural quarrel from derailing the examination. The change of venue thus addressed both Donny Ray’s condition and the risk that the testimony might otherwise be delayed beyond reach.

The Backyard Deposition

The family’s home presented practical problems: the rooms were cramped, the lighting was poor for video, and the temperature was high. Kipler proposed the backyard instead. The group set up under an oak tree, using chairs from the house and an extension cord Deck had brought for the borrowed camera. Two court reporters arrived, and Drummond came with two other lawyers from Trent & Brent. Dot and Rudy helped Donny Ray from his bed to a cushioned patio rocker. He was too weak to shake hands, but nodded to those present.

The video camera was placed about four feet from Donny Ray so the jury would see him, rather than the lawyers questioning him. Kipler sat beside Rudy and placed Drummond on Donny Ray’s other side; Dot watched from behind the camera. The deposition was also recorded stenographically, giving the parties a written reference without requiring them to review the entire video. The additional recording reflected the practical demands of litigation, while the video preserved the witness’s visible presence. Donny Ray’s testimony was expected to be needed at trial because he would likely be dead by then.

Examination and Testimony

Rudy began with basic questions about Donny Ray’s name, address, birthdate, parents, and family. Donny Ray answered slowly and toward the camera, following the preparation they had done beforehand. Rudy then asked about his education and work, establishing that he had never left home, registered to vote, or been in trouble with the law. During the examination, Buddy Black briefly came out to the yard and went to his Ford Fairlane; Rudy continued questioning Donny Ray.

The questions about illness and treatment required particular care. Rudy avoided asking Donny Ray to repeat what a doctor had told him or to offer medical opinions, which could be excluded as hearsay. Instead, he focused on what Donny Ray had experienced and on the treatment he had not received. Rudy completed his direct examination in about twenty minutes without an objection.

Drummond’s cross-examination focused on possible limits to policy coverage. He asked whether Donny Ray had ever lived elsewhere, even temporarily, and whether he had bought his own medical policy or obtained insurance through an employer. Donny Ray answered no to these questions. Drummond kept the examination brief, asking only a few questions and finishing in less than ten minutes. Kipler ended the deposition; Rudy had no further questions. The exchange put Donny Ray’s lack of separate coverage on the record while avoiding a prolonged examination of a seriously ill witness.

Use at Trial and Significance

At trial, Rudy and Deck edited the deposition into a thirty-one-minute recording. The courtroom lights were dimmed, and the jury watched Donny Ray on a screen. His weak answers, captured in the setting where he had been able to testify, made the consequences of the insurance dispute present in a way that written questions and answers alone could not. The recording gave the jury access to testimony from a witness who could not be there in person.

The deposition also formed part of the plaintiffs’ larger account of the case. Donny Ray’s recorded testimony was shown alongside evidence about Great Benefit’s denials and the handling of the claim. In his closing argument, Rudy pointed to the absence of defense evidence contradicting Dr. Walter Kord’s testimony that a bone marrow transplant was not experimental. The home deposition did not itself establish the medical or corporate issues, but it preserved Donny Ray’s part in the story the jury was asked to judge. Its unusual setting arose from a concrete urgency: the legal process had to make room for a witness whose opportunity to testify was running out.