State v. Ranger
Decision Date | 08 July 1953 |
Citation | 98 A.2d 652,149 Me. 52 |
Parties | STATE v. RANGER. |
Court | Maine Supreme Court |
Frederic S. Sturgis, County Attorney, Portland, for plaintiff.
I. E. Cohen, Portland, for defendant.
Before MERRILL, C. J., and THAXTER, FELLOWS, MURRAY, WILLIAMSON, and TIRRELL, JJ.
This is an indictment brought in the Superior Court for Cumberland County against the respondent Alva Ranger for taking indecent liberites with a minor under the age of sixteen years. The jury returned a guilty verdict. During the trial the respondent seasonably took exceptions to various rulings of the Court on the ground that they were erroneous and prejudicial. Exceptions are sustained.
The first witness called by the State was Barbara Anne Reichert, age 10, and she was questioned by counsel on the matter of her qualifications. Some of the questions and her answers are as follows:
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Another witness for the State was Sharon Anne Rickett, age 8, and she was questioned on the second day as follows:
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The presiding Justice permitted both children to testify.
It has long been recognized in Maine that a child of tender years, capable of distinguishing between good and evil, may in the discretion of the Court be examined on oath. If permitted to testify, after preliminary examination as to qualfication, the statements of such a witness are submitted to the consideration of the jury who should regard the age, the understanding, and the sense of accountability for moral conduct, in coming to their conclusion. State v. Whittier, 21 Me. 341; State v. Dorathy, 132 Me. 291, 170 A. 506. Greenleaf thus states the rule: I Greenleaf on Evidence, 6th Ed., 476, Sec. 367.
The question of the competency of a child to testify is addressed largely to the discretion of the presiding Justice, but it is judicial discretion. It must not be an arbitrary decision. It must be based, not only on the appearance of the child, but it also must be based on what answers the child makes to show that he, or she, is qualified to testify. The proposed child witness should know the difference between truth and falsehood, and apparently must be able to receive accurate impressions of facts, and be able to relate truly the impressions received. The child witness should have sufficient capacity to understand, in some measure, the obligation of an oath; or to realize that it is wrong to falsify, and that if he does tell an untruth that he is likely to be punished. See 58 Am.Jur. 'Witness', 97, Secs. 129-136 and cases cited.
In this case the respondent was fond of children. He had been a Scout Master, a 4-H Club leader, had been in charge of girl's summer camps, and the like, for thirty-five years. Because they asked him for a ride, he took at least three girls, on this day in question, to an apartment where he adjusted or repaired an oil burner. Three children played 'hide and seek' in the apartment and insisted that the respondent give them 'piggy back rides.' The alleged assault, which was to the effect that the respondent completely felt of her under her clothes, took place while one or more of the other children were there, and with all doors of the apartment open. The mother testified that she had forbidden her daughter to go to ride and when the daughter came home she 'was happy when she came in.' The mother says she 'gave her a good whack' because she was late. The child testified she got 'a licking.' The child cried at the punishment and later when going to bed the child made the 'complaint' to the mother, which is the subject of the third and fourth exceptions in this case.
Each of these two children was presented as an important witness in a serious case, and each makes statements in preliminary examination that show positively that they did not know the difference between truth and falsehood. The testimony of each is undoubtedly colored, if not prevaricated, through the coaching and instruction of a mother, as both preliminary examinations indicate.
Although many ancient proverbs indicate that some of our ancestors believed that only truth could come from...
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State v. Rees
...under [M.R. Evid. 403]."), abrogated on other grounds by State v. Woodburn, 559 A.2d 343, 346 n. 2 (Me.1989); State v. Ranger, 149 Me. 52, 55-56, 98 A.2d 652, 653-54 (1953) (discussing discretion of trial court to allow examination of child witnesses under 13. But see supra note 9. ...
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