. 

OFFlC= OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTiN 

zhaareble ikn V. Jeokaon 

Mrtrlct Attamoy 

iiouston, Tsxe8 

Attention:. Hr. Y., K. Rickdsoa 

CeQrilr: -.. :,- 

. 

irtlcle I, Texas Constitution;. thati 011 ‘sltaeere8 must. take wi 

oath CP afflrmet~on to teerify to the truth$ thet %he, p&n8 end 

panelties 0r ~mj~~y me tuo t0 ten years in thb.penltent;ary; 

chat ocw Zelinquent child lau is xmt a: crlml~l. 1+10n but 

rether a proaeduxe 3a rmtiure.oS @.mrCianahLp and 1s an exolus1vc procedure a3 fer 48. juvenilee ocmlng withbin its scoce- are 

cmccrned; that .luveniloa *uudcr aur c?slinquenr chi~ld law are 

not sui;je;t to crlmlnal Frosecutlon; therefore, Is n jwenll3 

0 competent witncasl 
iionorable Can W. .Jecrson. gage 2 

It La true that under our present delinquent child 

lau, vhlch is the sole procedure to be appllod to juveniles 

comlzg ulthln its purvlcv, that such a juvenile is not tried 

in a ar&laal proceeding but in e proceeding in nature of 

Euardianshlp end Is not subject to crislnal prosecution. Ye 

do not think tbls method of hendUn& juvenSbs can be said to 

immune then from the pins end penalties of perjury. Ue quote 

la pert from our dellnqdeat child law: 

n 

. . . . 

I i The term *2ellnquent child’ means any 

fenale’p&on over the ago of ten (IO) years ati * 

under the age of eighteen (18) years and ang zale 

psrson over the a e of ton c13) pars nnd under the 

cge of seventeen 'i 17) ycnrsr 

“(a) who violates any penal law of this state 

OS the pgac?e OS felony; 

II 

. . . . 

” 

. and lf the Judge or jury rlnda that the 

child ~s*dellnquent, or othervlse withi~n the provl3lons of this Act, the court may buy order duly 

entered proceed as follows: 

“(1) place the child oa probation or under 

supervlsion in hia ovn home or in the custody of a 

relative ov other fit person, upan such tsrns es 

the court shall determlne; 

‘(2) commit the child to a suitable public institution or agency, or to a aultable Frivato lnatitutlon or agency authorized to care fop ohlldren; 

or to place them ln auiteble family homes or parental homes for an indeterminate Feriod of tme, not 

extending beyond the time the chf.13 shall reach the - 

age of tucnry-one (21) rears; 

“(3) mt%e such further dl~posltion 33 t.ha court 

ray deem to 3:e ror the beat lnterasi uf :he child, 

eacegc e.s herebt atherulas provided. 

,I 11 

. . . . 
Honorable San U. Jackson, page 3 

it is q*tiLc coldent that a child who commits the offense of perjury, which is 4 felony, 1s subject to the pains 

and penalties thewefor ln the nature of bclng trlcd ac e dellnquent child and if adjudged as such, to be kmdlcd In the 

manner cc above met forth Ln our quotation from the dcllnquent 

child lau. IO other words, a juvenile within the scope of the 

C~lilrpuent child 14~ is subject to the palna and pcncltica of 

perjury, no& In the 8cmc of being tried and punichcd a8 a 

orimina3, hut, la the ~ensc of belna tried end handled a8 8 dcllnqusnt child. If a juvenile did perjure ‘as a vitnccs. the 

facts ccucing his tcsclmony to be an act of pcrju?? are tha 

acme. which would conatltute an act of perj*ury on the part of 

an adult. The present dcllkaquent child lau cmely changed the 

mode ol trial and manner 0-C puniahmmt so far as a juwcnilo is 

conccrncC utio coml:s an offense agalnct the law of the land. 

2his i~~cntloal qucsfiza was r4fsed IJ the case of 

Vllliams v. State, 225 3. v. 173, under our old 2el:aqucct 

child lav vhcrebp It was ogtionel vlth the juvc;llla uhetimr 

he vould bc tried 88 a &alinquent child OP for the crime ltself. Ihe contention ~4 s ncde that slnoc a child could choocc 

betvccn be- ,tried as a deliqqueat ohlld cr for the offense 

cocmitted, and he chose the forac~, he, not belng subject to 

tho paina and penaltfec, wea not a conpctent vltzoss. The 

court ensvercd thlo as follow: 

n This vonld not rallcvc -~osccutrlx of 

contr&l&‘for perjury undc~ ah Indiatvent charging 

that offence, unless rhc did in w-me i;l~nuc~ claim 

the exemption under the delinquent child act. If 

that uas aet up, thea the court vould dlsmi~a thu 

cam of perjury and try her under the Act8 of the 

Fourth Called 3cssloi~ of tha Leglalsture, cupra. 

It vould be as much a violation of the law In ohc 

case 88 ln the other. The facts vould be chc smc 

4zd the perjury the same, but under the CclUIQucnt 

child act she would be cntltlcd to be scnL to the 

rrfornatory instead of the penitentAmy. It change6 

the icanner of enfsrcbg the lnv, but does not chahgc 

the wine ncr the necessary facts. IL ctanges the 

mn.mr of trying rt cud the mnmr of cha?gihg it, 

but ,f.o offcam? uoulc? bo the salx! 32 :‘~or es Glo CCC 

of chc child in tcstlfying ~13 concerned. It d3es 

not rtl-:cve ter of ?unlah.vent, but; chan~ea t.he ;Gaco 

Of’ ;unlciumnt anr! the rzoda of trlnl. . . .n 
. , 

Honorable Dan W. Jaokeon, page 4 

It Is therefore the opinltm of this department that 

‘ii the prerequisitea are met which qualify a juventle 88 a 

competent vitness, the faot he Is vlthln the purvleu of the 

delinquent child law will not cause his disqualiiioation ae 

8 QOlSpOteAt liitAe88. 

Very truly pours 

ATTORRRX -L OF TEXU 

By /&&7b 

Robert 0. Pooh 

Assistant