不一样。

如果一个证人将来无法到庭作证（如即将出国或去世），可以提前把他的证言以录音、录像或逐字记录的形式记录下来，供将来在法庭使用。庭外录取证言需要双方的律师参加，通常在一方的律师事务所进行。一般有法庭工作人员到场。主持证人宣誓，并逐字记录全部谈话或录音录像。录取证言叫take deposition，作证的人叫deponent。Deposition即指以这种方式录取的证言。The testimony of a party or witness in a civil or criminal proceeding taken before trial, usually in an attorney's office. Deposition testimony is taken orally, with an attorney asking questions and the deponent (the individual being questioned) answering while a court reporter or tape recorder (or sometimes both) records the testimony.

这与中国法庭使用的证人证言witness testimony/statements是不同的。证人证言是指证人就其所了解的案件情况向公安司法机关所作的陈述，证人证言一般是口头陈述，以笔录加以固定；办案人员同意由证人亲笔书写的书面证词，也是证人证言。中国的证人证言是单方面提供的，可以在法庭使用，接受律师的“质证”（指出其中的瑕疵）。在美国，这种证言只能用于反驳证人当庭的证言，即证人出庭作证时，律师发现所述内容与先前的书面证言不一致，才能把先前的证言拿出来证明证人不可信。In a legal sense, eyewitness testimony refers to an individual's firsthand account of an event that they witnessed (usually one that is suspected to be or considered to be a crime).

以下为相关双语示例，供参考：

The complaint is also accompanied by a handwritten document purporting to be a deposition by someone in the Democratic Republic of the Congo who knows the complainant; this person claims not to know what has happened to him since the authorities began looking for him.

申诉中还有一份手写的文件，据称是与申诉人相识的刚果民主共和国公民所作的证言；他还声称，自当局开始搜寻他以后并不了解他的情况。

Regarding admission criteria, those indicated in the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Draft Model Law on Witness Protection may be considered.53 Usual criteria include seriousness of the crime, public interest in the prosecution of the facts limited to the legal tradition involved, importance of the witness’ testimony, ability of the person to adapt to the programme and its measures, among others.

53 通常的标准包括罪行的严重性、限于所涉法律传统事实起诉中的公众利益 、证人证言的重要性、该个人适应方案及其措施的能力等等。