A Texas appeals court on Friday overturned a ruling that would have put former President George W. Bush under oath in a dispute involving his presidential library.
A three-judge panel ruled that Bush does not have to submit to a deposition from a former condo owner suing Southern Methodist University, the future site of the presidential library.
Gary Vodicka, who was forced out of his condominium by SMU to make way for the library, contends the university coveted the property and lied about its intentions.
A Texas district judge had ordered the former president to appear at a deposition in Vodicka's lawsuit. The order for compelling Bush's deposition was historic: No sitting or former president ever has been forced to testify in a state court proceeding.
