Some Observations on the Law of Evidence -- The Competency of Witnesses

Abstract

Courts of last resort now seldom reverse a ruling on the competencyof witnesses.\u27 Convinced, and rightly so, that they cannotlearn from the record all the circumstances which influencedthe decision below, they usually let it stand, even when the transcriptalone might suggest another conclusion. Trial courts, intheir turn, to a greater extent than formerly prefer to admit theevidence of infants, insane people, and mental defectives, andleave the jury to estimate its value. Perhaps this is becauseexclusion has heretofore worked particular hardship in prosecutionsfor crimes against children and the insane, where the onlyevidence available was that of the victim. Now these aggrievedindividuals may testify even when the gist of the action, as instatutory rape, or the title of the action, as where a lunatic sues by his next friend, indicates their infirmity. The infirmityalone does not render them incompetent

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