Deposition, in its more technical sense, refers to the written testimony of a witness given in the course of a judicial proceeding prior to the trial or hearing, with cross-examination.

• A. The written testimony of a witness given in court after cross-examination
• B. The written testimony of a witness given in the course of a judicial proceeding prior to the trial or hearing, with cross-examination
• C. A statement submitted to the court under seal
• D. A summary of testimony prepared by the court reporter

Answer: (B)

Deposition describes sworn, pretrial testimony given by a witness and written down for the record, with the opportunity for cross-examination by the opposing party. This setup is what makes a deposition a discovery tool: it captures the witness’s statements under oath before the actual trial, and the other side can challenge or probe those statements during cross-examination. The resulting written product is the transcript of that sworn testimony, produced by a court reporter.

The other choices don’t fit because they describe different things: testimony given in court after cross-examination is what happens at a trial, not a deposition; a statement submitted under seal is something else entirely and not the deposition; a summary of testimony prepared by the court reporter isn’t the deposition itself—the deposition is the actual sworn testimony, recorded verbatim in transcript form.