Opinion ID: 1463283
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Competence of the Six-Year-Old Witness

Text: Before he permitted the six-year-old prosecutrix to testify, the presiding justice conducted a voir dire proceeding in which he, as well as the prosecutor and defense counsel, questioned the young girl. Their questioning proceeded along the lines suggested by M.R.Evid. 601(b), which provides in pertinent part: (b) Disqualification of witness; interpreters. A person is disqualified to be a witness if the court finds that (a) the proposed witness is incapable of expressing himself concerning the matter so as to be understood by the judge and jury either directly or through interpretation by one who can understand him, or (b) the proposed witness is incapable of understanding the duty of a witness to tell the truth. On his appeal, Walton challenges only the prosecutrix's ability to understand the duty of a witness to tell the truth. When a witness of tender years is proposed, the court must exercise its sound judicial discretion to evaluate the child's testimonial competency under Rule 601 on the basis of the totality of the voir dire. State v. Vigue, Me., 420 A.2d 242, 246 (1980); see also State v. Pinkham, Me., 411 A.2d 1021, 1024 (1980). Here, the child's answers on voir dire clearly showed she knew what it meant to tell a lie. The voir dire further established that the child knew that it was wrong to lie and that the consequence of lying would be to get into trouble. Any inability on the part of the child to articulate in further detail the consequences of lying must be looked at in the context of her overall responses during the voir dire. Despite her youth, the prosecutrix understood the questions propounded to her and gave intelligent answers that showed an ability and desire to differentiate between truth and falsity. She knew that she should not lie and that trouble would come to her if she did. She more clearly stated the consequences of falsehood than did the child witness in Vigue, 420 A.2d at 245 n.2. On the totality of her voir dire, there is no basis for an appellate court to hold that the trial justice abused his discretion in determining that the prosecutrix understood the duty of a witness to tell the truth. He committed no error in receiving the testimony of the six-year-old victim of the allege crime.