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Leading Questions And Child Witnesses

BY Maureen O'Connor, James H. Rotondo
January 27, 2006

Last month, in the first part of this article, we discussed the case law of both state and federal courts with regard to the admissibility of child testimony and the suggestibility of child witnesses. The conclusion of this article discusses whether the child witness understands that he or she can affect the outcome of the litigation, as well as other issues related to the reliability of the child's testimony.

How Much Does a Child Understand?

Young children do not understand the need to rework facts to affect the outcome of litigation. For example, children who are at least 3 years of age are quite accurate in their information about a traumatic injury when interviewed in a non-leading manner both within a few days and 6 months after the injury. Peterson C: “The Preschool Child Witness: Errors in Accounts of Traumatic Injury,” Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, Vol. 28, 36-42 (1996); C. Peterson & M. Bell, “Chil-dren's Memory for Traumatic Injury,” Child Development, Vol. 67, 3045-70 (1996).

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