163 A. 256 | Conn. | 1932
The defendant was found guilty of an indecent assault upon a young girl ten years old. The appeal contains thirty assignments of error, but we shall deal only with those pursued in the defendant's brief.
The defendant made a motion in arrest of judgment but, with one exception, the grounds stated were errors in the charge or rulings of the trial court or the insufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction; none of these grounds are proper matters for a motion in arrest but should be raised by an appeal from the judgment or a motion to set the verdict aside. Bishop v.Copp,
The claimed corrections in the finding, if made, would have no material bearing upon any issue presented upon the appeal and we disregard them. The trial court, while not adopting the language of the defendant's requests to charge, substantially complied with all of them except one, and as to that, no claim of error is made. The only error in the charge pressed upon the appeal was the concluding statement of the court as follows: "The State of Connecticut does not desire the conviction of innocent accused persons, but where the evidence has established to the degree which I have indicated guilt, the State of Connecticut expects the jury in its service by their verdict so to express the fact." This was an entirely proper instruction for the trial court to give.
The substantial questions raised by the appeal are rulings as to the admission of testimony. The trial court, after the complaining witness, and a sister aged eight, had been examined admitted them as witnesses. Whether a child of tender years is qualified as a witness is a matter peculiarly within the discretion of the trial court and its ruling will not be disturbed unless in a clear case of abuse or of some error in law. Kuczon
v. Tomkievicz,
The examination of a child for the purpose of determining its competency as a witness is for the sole purpose of satisfying the court that he has the requisite qualifications; the examination is not under oath and has no bearing upon the issues of the case; and the method in which it is conducted is also in the discretion of the trial court, reviewable only for clear abuse.State v. Whittier,
The direction of the trial court that the oath be administered to each of the children was a sufficient determination by it that they were qualified and competent witnesses. While this determination is solely for the court to make, the credit to be accorded the testimony of a child witness is for the jury and the opportunity given by their presence during the examination of the witness as to competency may well assist them in determining his ability to observe correctly, to remember and narrate accurately, and to appreciate the obligation resting upon him to be truthful. State
v. Whittier, and People v. Delaney, supra. It was therefore no abuse of the trial court's discretion to permit the jury to remain during that examination.Young v. State,
During the examination of the complaining witness, she testified to having told an older sister about the assault the next day. Objection was made to this testimony upon the ground that the defendant was not present at the conversation. The admissibility of such statements by the victim of a rape is thoroughly settled in this State. State v. Kinney,
There is no error.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.