Section 680.10. Examination of witnesses on commission; in general

1.  Under circumstances prescribed in this article, testimony material
  to  a trial or pending trial of an accusatory instrument which charges a
  crime, may be taken by "examination on a commission" outside  the  state
  and received in evidence at such trial.
    2.  A "commission" is a process issued by a superior court designating
  one  or  more persons as commissioners and authorizing them to conduct a
  recorded examination of a witness or witnesses under oath, primarily  on
  the  basis of interrogatories annexed to the commission, and to remit to
  the issuing court the transcript of such examination.