Opinion ID: 2385106
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Victim's Competence To Testify

Text: As his last point appellant argues the trial court erred in finding the victim competent to testify. Prior to trial he moved for a determination of the competency of the thirteen-year-old victim, who was scheduled to testify. A hearing was conducted, the victim was questioned by the trial court and defense counsel, and the trial court found her competent to testify. The question of the competency of a witness is a matter lying within the sound discretion of the trial court and in the absence of clear abuse, we will not reverse on appeal. Jackson v. State, 290 Ark. 375, 720 S.W.2d 282 (1986). The trial court must begin with the presumption that every person is competent to be a witness. Id.; A.R.E. Rule 601. The party alleging a witness is incompetent has the burden of persuasion. Logan v. State, 299 Ark. 266, 773 S.W.2d 413 (1989). The issue of competency of a witness is one in which the trial judge's evaluation is particularly important due to the opportunity he or she is afforded to observe the witness and the testimony. In a child rape case, the matter of the competency of the child is primarily for the trial judge to decide as he or she is better able than we are to judge the child's intelligence and understanding of the necessity for telling the truth. Jackson v. State, supra . The criteria for judging witness competency are: the ability to understand the obligation of an oath and to comprehend the constraint imposed by it; an understanding of the consequences of false swearing; and the ability to receive accurate impressions and to retain them, to the extent that the capacity exists to transmit to the fact-finder a reasonable statement of what was seen, felt or heard. Chambers v. State, 275 Ark. 177, 628 S.W.2d 306 (1982). Appellant argues the above test was not met in this case because the child admitted she did not understand the obligation of the oath or the consequences of not telling the truth, and additionally, could not remember all the details of the alleged crimes. These characterizations of the victim's testimony are correct, so far as they go, but they have been taken out of context. Under questioning by the court the victim first stated she knew what it meant to take an oath and to tell the truth. She responded in the negative when asked if she knew what happened if she didn't tell the truth when placed under oath. When the court clarified its question and asked if she knew what happened when she didn't tell the truth to her mother, the witness replied she would be punished and it was bad not to tell the truth. She reiterated her understanding in the same way when asked that question by the defense. She was also certain she could remember and relate the events that took place with appellant, even though she might not recall all the details. The trial judge concluded the victim was competent to testify and met all the witness criteria. He noted she was fairly intelligent, in the seventh grade and received A's and B's in class; he found she understood the necessity of being truthful in her testimony and that not telling the truth was wrong and was punishable; and that she had the ability to transmit an accurate statement of what had happened to her. Based on the foregoing, we cannot say the trial court abused its discretion in finding the witness competent. AFFIRMED.