Opinion ID: 1930051
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: was the trial court required to give an instruction regarding the weight to be given to the testimony of a child?

Text: Bandy requested an instruction (D-12) telling the jury to receive with caution the testimony of a child of tender years. The court refused the instruction on the grounds that it was not legally required, and was an improper comment on the evidence. In examining cases where children of tender age were allowed to testify, the requirements of this Court clearly are shown to be: that the child be examined by the trial judge prior to testimony, and that the examination shows that the child has a comprehension of past events and a moral appreciation of truthfulness. Wilson v. State, 221 So.2d 100 (Miss. 1969); Thomas v. State, 222 Miss. 488, 76 So.2d 242 (1954); McNally v. State, 213 Miss. 356, 56 So.2d 834 (1952); Yarbrough v. State, 202 Miss. 820, 32 So.2d 436 (1947); Anderson v. State, 199 Miss. 885, 25 So.2d 474 (1946); Fairley v. State, 152 Miss. 656, 120 So. 747 (1929); Peters v. State, 106 Miss. 333, 63 So. 666 (1913). In none of these cases was an instruction such as the one requested by the appellant given to the jury. Furthermore, the language of the instruction, in telling the jury to view L.H.'s testimony with great caution, sets out the same standard given to the jury for evaluating the testimony of accomplices and co-defendants. The instruction is given in those cases because of the inherent mistrust of those witnesses' veracity. That is not necessarily the case with a child witness. In that case, it is not presumed that the child may be dishonest, but simply that he or she may not have the capacity to understand sufficiently or remember correctly the events to which he or she is testifying. A child's testimony should not be viewed with a jaundiced eye as to whether or not the child is truthful  a child may be presumed to be as truthful as any other witness. If the jury is to be instructed at all with respect to the testimony of a child, it should be told to view the testimony in the light of the child's age and understanding, not his veracity. We hold, then, that it was not error to refuse this instruction.