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837 So. 2d 1159

S.C. v. State

District Court of Appeal of Florida

Decided February 21, 2003

District Court of Appeal of Florida · decided 2003-02-21

Cited by 2 later decisions — most recently July 2011

1 state decisions

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

“[W]hen a child's competency is at issue, the trial court should consider (1) whether the child is capable of observing and recollecting facts, (2) whether the child is capable of narrating those facts to the court or to a jury, and (3) whether the child has a moral sense of the obligation to tell the truth.”

quoted by 1 later decision, including 864 So. 2d 464 - Black v. State

Relies on 524 So. 2d 396 - Lloyd v. State · 526 So. 2d 752 - Griffin v. State · 689 So. 2d 354 - Seccia v. State

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 2003-02-21

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

PER CURIAM.

¶1Appellant argues, in this appeal of an order adjudicating him a delinquent child, the trial judge erred in determining that the four year old alleged victim was competent to testify. Appellant also claims the trial judge erred in admitting child hearsay testimony through the child’s mother and a treating physician. Because we decide the first issue in favor of appellant, we need not reach these additional claims.

¶2When the competency of a child witness is at issue, as it was here, the trial judge must determine whether the child is capable of observing, recohecting, and narrating facts, and whether the child has a moral sense of the duty to tell the truth. See Griffin v. State, 526 So.2d 752, 753 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988); Lloyd v. State, 524 So.2d 396, 400 (Fla.1988). Here, the trial judge failed to conduct an adequate inquiry into whether the alleged child victim possessed a moral sense of duty to tell the truth prior to finding her competent to testify. Seccia v. State, 689 So.2d 354 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997) (reversing and remanding for a new trial when the trial judge failed to conduct a sufficient competency examination to establish a child witness was capable of observing, recollecting, and narrating facts, and had a moral sense of duty to tell the truth). Accordingly, we reverse appellant’s adjudication and remand for a new adjudicatory hearing.

¶3REVERSED AND REMANDED.

BARFIELD, POLSTON and HAWKES, JJ., concur.
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