People v. Valladares
People v. Valladares
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
Valladares was convicted of aggravated assault and battery. One of the witnesses for the prosecution was a child who testified that he was six years of age and later that he did not know his age. His mother was then put on the stand and testified that the child was thirteen years of age. There
When the child was again called as a witness, the judge stated that from his own observation he thought the witness was more than ten years old. At the time of the child’s first appearance on the stand and after some examination as to his capacity as a witness, the judge had also stated that he would permit the child to testify. Nevertheless, after further examination of the witness, the district attorney, although such further examination had not shown that the child was incompetent, decided to put the mother on the stand before proceeding with the testimony of the child as a witness. The testimony of the child was cumulative and the result would probably have been the same if the mother had not been called.
The second assignment is that the district judge erred in permitting the child to testify. Aside from the fact that the child was thirteen years of age, the question of his capacity as a witness was a matter largely within the discretion of the trial judge and we find no abuse of that discretion. Underhill’s Criminal Evidence (3rd ed.) 455, section 331; Peters v. State, 63 So. 666.
The third assignment is that the district court erred in permitting a stenographer to testify as to what defendant’s witness, Agustín Olivieri, had said on a previous occasion. When the stenographer was asked to identify a transcript of Olivieri’s previous testimony, the defense objected that no predicate for impeachment had been laid. The judge said that if the statement had not been signed, it was not
The judgment appealed from must be affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.