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Child Testimony Expectations

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PaulRobert

Junior Member
A jealous sister fabricated the story that her brother had
molested her six-year-old child and fed the story to the child and threatened to beat the child if she didn't make
it her own. The child made a statement to authorities that
does not reflect her own manner of speaking and included her
brother as a witness to the alleged molestation. The girl and her brother went with her mother to a carnival and when out of view of their mother they told their great uncle who arrived there that her mother made up the story and that her uncle had never molested her. She went on to say this to
many of the carnival workers at their booths. There will be
a trial in May or June and the mother cannot be in court when the children testify but the accused uncle must be. Based on your knowledge of similar cases, can we expect the children to continue to tell the truth and exonerate their uncle? With some difficulty we can secure depositions from
the carnival workers but probably they won't want to get
involved
 


S

seniorjudge

Guest
Q: Based on your knowledge of similar cases, can we expect the children to continue to tell the truth and exonerate their uncle?

A: My experience with kids is that they lie about everything. Whether the judge believes the kid or not, I couldn't tell you. I can tell you that carnival workers vouching for the kid won't make any difference; that's just hearsay.
 

PaulRobert

Junior Member
Thanks for your response seniorjudge. State is NY This will be a jury trial. In court the carnival workers testimony would be hearsay. The D.A. here advised us to get statements from all the workers at the carnival in order to prevail upon the D.A. in the adjacent county, where this transpired, to interview the children and get the truth from them. Defendant is defended by an appointed counsel. Experienced criminal defense lawyer we paid a consultant retainer to read the file and spoke with the appointed counsel and says any attorney could gain an acquittal in this case and we should have faith. Remember that the circumstances are that the mother is not present in both cases and the uncle whom the kids cherish will be in court. Besides that, they didn't have the assurance at the carnival that their mother wouldn't hear what they told workers. Before they go to court they will be told that what they say cannot be repeated outside of the courtroom.
 

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