Strickland v. State

Deen, Presiding Judge.

Strickland was tried for murder and convicted of voluntary manslaughter, from which he appeals. We reverse.

1. In his first enumeration of error, appellant asserts that the trial court erred in finding Kit Strickland a/k/a Kit Kramer, a five-year-old child, competent to testify. We are constrained to agree with appellant that the trial court abused its discretion in allowing the child to testify.

The child actually was examined twice to determine his competency, once during a hearing on a motion in limine, and subsequently at trial. In pertinent part the examination at the…