State v. Diggins

I. Defendant’s first proposition is that the court erred in permitting the witness, Margaret Blanchard, 8 years of age, to testify because she did not understand the meaning of an oath, nor what it meant to be a witness. On preliminary examination as to her competency by the court, she testified she knew what “telling the truth” meant and knew what a lie was; that it was wrong to tell a lie, and that punishment was the penalty for not telling the truth. She further testified:

“Q. If I ask you to hold up your hand, I will say to you ‘will you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing…