Saturday the 29th (Donny Ray’s deposition)

Saturday the 29th (Donny Ray’s deposition) is the date Judge Tyrone Kipler set for recording Donny Ray Black’s testimony before trial. The deposition preserved the account of a witness not expected to live until the case reached a jury; its video was later shown in court, turning an abstract dispute over insurance coverage into the testimony and image of the person whose treatment had been denied.

Setting the Date

The date emerged from a pretrial hearing in which the defense resisted scheduling Donny Ray’s deposition. Leo F. Drummond said he had a federal trial in Memphis beginning the following Monday, expected to last two weeks, while another defense lawyer said he would be away for his sister’s wedding. Rudy Baylor offered to proceed at any time. Kipler rejected further delay and set the deposition for the next Saturday, the twenty-ninth, reasoning that the defense had enough lawyers to cover the proceeding even if one or two were unavailable.

The scheduling dispute carried more than administrative significance. The court had Dr. Walter Kord’s affidavit concerning Donny Ray’s condition, and Drummond did not challenge its validity. Kipler emphasized the need to record testimony that a future jury could hear. The narrative identifies the defense’s advantage in postponement: if Donny Ray died before testifying, jurors would not see his face or hear his voice. The chosen date therefore protected the possibility of presenting his evidence while he was still alive.

Recording the Testimony

The deposition took place at the Black family home, where Donny Ray was seated in a patio rocker and the camera was positioned to show him alone. Kipler sat beside Baylor, with Drummond on the other side of the witness; Dot Black watched from behind the camera. A court reporter recorded the proceeding on video, while a stenographic record was also made, following Kipler’s suggestion. The written transcript would give the parties and judge a quick reference without requiring them to review the full recording.

Baylor’s examination was for evidentiary use, rather than an open-ended search for information, so his questions had to follow the rules of evidence. He began with basic identifying details and family background, and Donny Ray answered slowly toward the camera. The video was intended for a jury that might never have the chance to hear him in person. The practical cost was part of the scene’s legal reality: the court reporters charged by the page, and Deck Shifflet estimated the deposition would cost close to four hundred dollars.

From Deposition to Trial

At trial, the recording was edited to thirty-one minutes and played to the jury on a twenty-inch screen. Donny Ray was the plaintiff’s final witness. As the jurors watched, Baylor studied their reactions; he saw sympathy, while Dot wiped her cheeks. After the screen went blank, the courtroom remained quiet for a full minute before the plaintiff rested. The recording thus did more than preserve testimony: its presentation made Donny Ray’s absence from the coming stages of trial immediate to the jurors.

The testimony also formed part of the case Baylor later summarized to the jury. In closing, he argued that the defense had offered no evidence contradicting Dr. Walter Kord’s testimony that a bone-marrow transplant was not experimental and might have saved Donny Ray’s life. The deposition stood alongside the denial letters, company documents, and other trial evidence, connecting the coverage dispute to the life that had been at stake.

Significance of the Date

The twenty-ninth marks a procedural intervention against delay. By setting a Saturday deposition despite the defense lawyers’ scheduling objections, Kipler secured a record that could survive the witness’s death and remain available for trial. The resulting video gave the jury direct access to Donny Ray’s testimony, while the parallel written record made the evidence easier to consult. In the case’s structure, the date is the hinge between preserving a vulnerable witness’s account and presenting that account as part of the plaintiffs’ proof.