State v. S.J.W.

¶1 This case asks us to determine which party under RCW 5.60.050 bears the burden to establish a 14-year-old child’s competency and whether a trial court should presume a child is competent to testify as a witness. S.J.W. was charged with the third degree rape of 14-year-old W.M., a developmentally delayed boy. The State offered W.M. as a witness to testify against S.J.W., and S.J.W. challenged W.M.’s competency to testify. At the competency hearing, the trial judge concluded S.J.W. failed to meet his burden to establish that W.M. was not competent to testify. The trial judge permitted W.M.…