Short answer. Yes, you can request changes. Section 19 lets you review the transcribed deposition and enter changes in form or substance, with your reasons noted; if you refuse to sign, the officer records the refusal and reason, and the deposition may still be used as if signed unless the court later finds the refusal justified enough to suppress it.
What the law says
Any changes in form or substance which the witness desires to make shall be entered upon the deposition by the officer with a statement of the reasons given by the witness for making them. The deposition shall then be signed by the witness, unless the parties by stipulation waive the signing or the witness is ill or cannot be found or refuses to sign.
Rule 23, Section 19 — Submission to witness; changes; signing. Read the full provision →
The right to review and correct
Once the testimony is fully transcribed, the deposition must be submitted to the witness, who reads it or has it read to them, unless the witness and the parties waive that step. Any changes the witness wants to make, in form or substance, are entered by the officer along with a stated reason for each change. This review right binds the officer taking the deposition, not the opposing counsel; the officer must actually enter the requested changes and the witness's stated reasons, and the original, unchanged testimony is not erased but stays part of the record alongside the noted corrections, so a later reader can see both versions.
Signing, or the substitutes for it
Ordinarily the witness signs the deposition after reviewing it. The parties can waive the signing requirement by stipulation, and signing is likewise excused if the witness is ill, cannot be found, or refuses to sign. In any of those situations, the officer signs instead and states the reason on the record. None of these substitutes for signing require the witness's own consent beyond the stipulation itself; a witness who is simply unavailable or ill does not get a chance to review and correct the transcript before it becomes usable, which is part of why the review-and-correct step matters so much whenever the witness is actually available to exercise it.
What refusing to sign actually costs you
A witness who refuses to sign does not automatically block the deposition from being used. It may 'be used as fully as though signed' unless, on a motion to suppress under Section 29(f) of this Rule, the court finds that the reasons given for the refusal justify rejecting the deposition, in whole or in part. Refusing to sign is therefore a way to flag a problem, not a way to unilaterally void the testimony.
Related provisions
- Rule 23, Section 19 — Submission to witness; changes; signing
- Rule 23, Section 29 — Effect of errors and irregularities in depositions