Some of this has come about because a large body of scientific research has dispelled the idea that children are highly unreliable in this role. Accompanying the legal acceptance of child witnesses has been a broadening of the types of cases in which they may be called to testify. Conveying Credibility Communicating that children are competent witnesses is vital because unless a judge, in particular, or a jury perceives a child witness to be credible, his appearance will have little impact on a trial. The judge s perceptions are paramount, because even in a jury trial, she may limit the scope of the child s testimony or give warnings to the jury on the dangers of accepting unreliable testimony from minors. Judges may alter the courtroom by having a screen from behind which the child testifies or by removing potentially influential adults from the courtroom.
Research shows that judges opinions about child witnesses vary.
Administering an oath does not seem correlated with increases in memory accuracy in children at any age. Repeatedly, the child s confidence and consistency in testimony are found to have a strong influence on jury members. Of course, these attributes have an uncertain association with accuracy of the witness. Studies with mock jurors have found that they have difficulty gauging children s accuracy in their testimony. When there is no other evidence than that of a child witness, most juries are not prone to convict criminal defendants.