State v. Price

MARTIN, Justice.

Defendant’s first assignment of error is that the trial court erroneously ruled that the victim was competent to testify. There is no fixed age limit below which a witness is incompetent to testify; rather, the question in each case is whether the witness understands the obligations of the oath and has the capacity to understand and relate facts which will assist the jury in reaching its decision. E.g., State v. Sills, 311 N.C. 370, 317 S.E. 2d 379 (1984); State v. Oliver, 302 N.C. 28, 274 S.E. 2d 183 (1981). The determination of the competency of a child to testify is a…