I just got a subpoena (#2): Who pays for all this?

I thought of one more question. Documents subpoenaed from the witness may cost hundreds of dollars to copy. Computer records are also being demanded. Who bears the burden of this cost? Will the jury or other government entity do so if requested?

Response: The usual rule is that the subpoenaed party bears the costs of complying, but you can sometimes persuade the government to share part of the cost, although this only tends to be done in extraordinary cases. Usually, assumption is that you don’t HAVE to provide copies (with the attendant costs); you can simply turn over all your original documents (or your only copies of them) to the government. Even though this assumption is not realistic for anyone whose business records have been subpoenaed, courts tend to accept it unless and until you can show that some unusual circumstance warrants shifting at least part of the cost of complying to the government.

As I said in my first email, you need to get a lawyer; your lawyer can talk to the prosecutor, see if the prosecutor will give you a little more time in which to comply, and see if the prosecutor is willing to make any arrangements about the cost of copying the materials.