Chapter 42 - § 42.22 • WITNESSES INCOMPETENT BY REASON OF INFANCY

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 42.22 • WITNESSES INCOMPETENT BY REASON OF INFANCY

By statute, children under the age of 10 years may not testify if they appear incapable of receiving just impressions of the facts respecting which they are to be examined, or of relating them truly.¹⁵⁶ This statute has been construed in a number of cases, mostly criminal, to permit children from six to 10 years of age to testify if the trial court conducts a special inquiry and determines that the child understands the nature of the oath and the consequences of not telling the truth under oath, and also that the child appears to be of normal intelligence for his or her age and to be able to receive correct impressions of facts and to relate them accurately. In some cases, the court has been assisted by a professional psychologist or analyst. In such cases, if there appear to have been no abuses of discretion by the trial court, the appellate court has not interfered with the conclusion of the trial court.¹⁵⁷

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Notes:

^[156] C.R.S. § 13-90-106(1)(b).

^[157] Hood v. People, 277 P.2d 223 (Colo. 1954); Wesner v. People, 250 P.2d 124 (Colo. 1952); Berger v. People, 224 P.2d 228 (Colo. 1956); Pillod v. People, 200 P.2d 919 (Colo. 1948)...