Commonwealth v. Ramage
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Indictment, for an indecent assault on a child on June 23, 1900. At the trial in the Superior Court, before Sheldon, J., on July-11 and 12,1900, it appeared, that the child, Helen C. Tuttle, was six years of age in March, 1900. She was offered as a witness, and the defendant objected to the reception of her testimony.
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Indictment, for an indecent assault on a child on June 23, 1900. At the trial in the Superior Court, before Sheldon, J., on July-11 and 12,1900, it appeared, that the child, Helen C. Tuttle, was six years of age in March, 1900. She was offered as a witness, and the defendant objected to the reception of her testimony. At the request of the defendant, the witness was examined voir dire by the judge in the absence of the jury, and against the objection of the defendant the judge ruled that she was competent to testify and allowed her to do so. The examination upon the voir dire was reported in…
1Opinion of the CourtKnowlton, J.
The only question in this case is whether the judge was bound to exclude the testimony of the witness Helen C. Tuttle, on the ground that she was incompetent to testify by reason of infancy.
In the opinion in Commonwealth v. Robinson, 165 Mass. 426, we find the following language: “ The law fixes no limit of age which children must have reached in order to be competent as witnesses; and unless for manifest error we cannot revise the decision of the presiding justice that the little girl in this case had sufficient intelligence and sufficient sense of the duty of telling the truth to enable her…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Wheeler v. United StatesSupreme Court of the United States · 1895
- Commonwealth v. ReaganMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1900
- Commonwealth v. RobinsonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1896
3Cited by7 opinions
- Commonwealth v. BurkeMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1983
- State v. StacySupreme Court of Vermont · 1932
- Commonwealth v. TatisosMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1921
- State v. MeyerSupreme Court of Iowa · 1907
- Rogers v. CommonwealthSupreme Court of Virginia · 1922
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