GEORGE HERNANDO FERNANDEZ, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1976-02-17
No. 75-796
Before PEARSON, HENDRY and NATHAN, JJ.
328 So. 2d 508 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1976) Positive Treatment
Cited by 32 cases

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Synopsis

George Hernando Fernandez was convicted of lewd, lascivious or indecent assault upon a female minor under age fourteen. On appeal, he challenged the competency of the six-year-old victim to testify and the sufficiency of the evidence. The court affirmed, holding that the trial judge properly found the child competent to testify and that substantial competent evidence supported the conviction.


Holding

The trial court properly exercised its discretion in finding the child competent to testify based on her demonstrated intelligence and understanding of truth and falsehood. There was substantial competent evidence to support the conviction.


Headnotes

[1] A trial judge has discretion to determine the competency of a child witness to testify.

[2] The primary test for a child witness's testimonial competency is intelligence, not age.

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Key Quotes

“A decision upon the competency of a child to testify is one peculiarly within the discretion of the trial judge because the evidence of intelligence, ability to recall, relate and to appreciate the nature and obligations of an oath are not fully portrayed by a bare record.”

Establishes the standard for appellate review of trial court determinations regarding child witness competency

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Facts & Procedural History

Fernandez was charged by two-count indictment with involuntary sexual battery and lewd, lascivious or indecent assault upon a female minor under age f…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

George Hernando Fernandez, defendant in the trial court, was charged by a two-count indictment with involuntary sexual battery in the first count, and with lewd, lascivious or indecent assault upon a female minor under the age of fourteen years without intent to commit rape in the second count.

He was tried by the court without a jury and found guilty of lewd, lascivious or indecent assault upon a female minor under the age of fourteen years without intent to commit rape, as a lesser degree of Count I of the indictment, and guilty of Count II as charged.

From an adjudication of guilt and sentence of S years in the state penitentiary, Fernandez appeals.

Fernandez contends (1) that the alleged victim, a 6-year-old child, the state’s sole witness to the acts charged in the indictment, was incompetent to testify, and (2) that the evidence was insufficient to support a conviction.

The record reflects that both counsel participated in a voir dire examination of the 6-year-old witness.

The prosecutor made inquiry as follows: “Q . . . do you know what it means to tell the truth? A Yes. Q Do you know what it means to tell a lie? A Yes. Q What happens if you tell a lie ? A Get a licking. Q Who gives you a licking? A My dad and in part, my mother. Q Who, your daddy and your mother? A Yeah. Q Are you going to tell us the truth today ? A Yes.”

Counsel for the defendant objected “to the witness testifying on the grounds that I do not honestly feel that the state has established that this particular witness is competent to testify,” and on the grounds “that the child obviously does not know what the definition or know what a lie is, merely to say she gets spanked for telling a lie doesn’t help . . .”

The judge overruled the objections and stated: “I think the questions of what is truth and what is a lie are questions that scholars can debate for many hours and the young lady has testified that she knows to tell the truth is to tell something as it happened, and if she lies about something she gets a licking.

And she knows, she stated her age, she stated her name, her mother’s name, she’s described the schools she’s gone to, and the Court is of the opinion she is qualified.” A decision upon the competency of a child to testify is one peculiarly within the discretion of the trial judge because the evidence of intelligence, ability to recall, relate and to appreciate the nature and obligations of an oath are not fully portrayed by a bare record.

Clinton v. State, 1907, S3 Fla. 98, 43 So. 312; Swain v. State, Fla.App.1965, 172 So. 2d 3; Davis v. State, Fla.App.1972, 264 So. 2d 31.

Furthermore, the prime test of testimonial competency of a young child is intelligence rather than age.

Bell v. State, Fla,1957, 93 So. 2d S75, 577; Swain v. State, supra; Davis v. State, supra.

From the totality of the record, including voir dire examination and the child’s answers to the questions of the prosecutor and of defense counsel on direct and cross-examination we find that there was sufficient evidence to warrant the judgment of the trial court that the child was competent to testify. A judgment of conviction comes to this court with a presumption of correctness.

Crum v. State, Fla.App.1965, 172 So. 2d 24.

In determining whether there is sufficient evidence to support the conclusion of the trier of fact, an appellate court need only find substantial, competent evidence to support the verdict.

Crum v. State, supra, Wetherington v. State, Fla. App.1972, 263 So. 2d 294.

Conflicts in evidence, and that it might have been susceptible of differing inferences and presented the trier of fact with questions as to credibility of witnesses and weight to be accorded testimony and other evidence presented, will not establish insufficiency of the evidence to sustain a judgment of conviction when the record discloses there was competent substantial evidence sufficient in law for its support.

Wetherington v. State, supra.

Affirmed.


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Citator

Cited By (16 total)

  • Lloyd v. State, 524 So. 2d 396 (Fla. 1988)
    …tell the truth. Bell v. State, 93 So. 2d 575 (Fla.1957). The test has been reiterated in multiple district court of appeal decisions. Garrard v. State, 335 So. 2d 603 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976), cert. denied, 342 So. 2d 1101 (Fla.1977); Fernandez v. State, 328 So. 2d 508 (Fla. 3d DCA), cert. denied, 341 So. 2d 1081 (Fla.1976); McKinnies v. State, 315 So. 2d 211 (Fla. 1st DCA 1975); Harrold v. Schluep, 264 So. 2d 431 (Fla. 4th DCA 1972). It is the established law of this state that if an infant witness has sufficient…
  • Begley v. State, 483 So. 2d 70 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986)
    …ll not be disturbed, unless a manifest abuse of discretion is shown.” Rutledge v. State, 374 So. 2d 975, 979 (Fla.1979), cert. denied, 446 U.S. 913, 100 S.Ct. 1844, 64 L.Ed.2d 267 (1980). The test is intelligence rather than age. Fernandez v. State, 328 So. 2d 508 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976), cert. denied, 341 So. 2d 1081 (Fla.1976). No abuse of discretion has been demonstrated. The state was allowed to use leading questions on direct examination of the child. The use of leading questions to a child of tender years i…
  • Rutledge v. State, 374 So. 2d 975 (Fla. 1979)
    …ss, and his ruling will not be disturbed unless a manifest abuse of discretion is shown. Rowe v. State, 87 Fla. 17, 98 So. 613 (1924). Sub judice, the prosecutor examined Harold Williams to determine his competency to testify. In Fernandez v. State, 328 So. 2d 508 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1976) cert. den. 341 So. 2d 1081 (Fla.1976), the Court determined that questioning by the prosecutor as to competency of a child was an acceptable proce [*980] dure. An examination of the record indicates no abuse of discretion on the…

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