Witness Competency

316 Florida cases classified under this topic · sorted by citation count · see the citation graph · browse and sort

• Jackson v. Cont'l Bank & Tr. Co.
  443 F.2d 1344· 10th Cir.· 1971-06-16 ·cited 6×
  The court held that the trial court erred in placing the burden of proof on the defendant to establish the plaintiff was a guest, and that the Utah Deadman Statute did not bar the plaintiff's testimony regarding events preceding the collision.
• United States ex rel. Thomas Lemon v. Pate
  427 F.2d 1010· 7th Cir.· 1970-06-26 ·cited 6×
  A witness's narcotic addiction is relevant to their credibility, not their competency, unless it demonstrably impairs their mental capacity to testify.
• Reese v. Naylor
  222 So. 2d 487· Fla. 1st DCA· 1969-05-20 ·cited 6×
  A qualified clinical psychologist is competent to testify regarding a person's mental condition and diagnosis, based on their education, training, and experience.
• Hawkins v. United States
  249 F.2d 735· 10th Cir.· 1957-11-09 ·cited 6×
  The court held that even if the wife's testimony was improperly admitted, the error was harmless and did not require reversal.
• Fountain v. United States
  236 F.2d 684· D.C. Cir.· 1956-06-28 ·cited 6×
  The court held that the evidence was insufficient to establish the corpus delicti for assault to commit rape beyond a reasonable doubt.
• Brown v. MAY
  76 So. 2d 652· Fla.· 1954-12-21 ·cited 6×
  In a paternity suit, the Florida Supreme Court reversed the trial court's judgment because it admitted privileged marital communications between the appellant and his former wife, despite the appellee's concession that such admission constituted reversible error. The court reaffi
• Potlatch OIL & Ref. Co. v. Ohio Oil Co.
  199 F.2d 766· 9th Cir.· 1952-10-30 ·cited 6×
  The court held that the action was barred by the statute of limitations and laches, as the plaintiffs' claims were repudiated in 1925 and the excluded testimony was inadmissible.
• Beulah Rose Nelson v. Stockton Mortg. Co.
  129 Fla. 69· Fla.· 1937-07-31 ·cited 6×
  This case concerns whether a mortgage executed before the mortgagor's death can be enforced against his heirs when the loan proceeds were disbursed after his death, contingent on a parol agreement that the proceeds would be withheld to ensure the mortgage would be a first lien. T
• Darius Williams and John A. Craig v. McGehee
  2 Fla. 58· Fla.· 1848-01-01 ·cited 6×
  William C. Miller testified as a witness for the plaintiff in an assumpsit action to recover money allegedly overpaid to defendants Williams and Craig. The defendants challenged Miller's competency as a witness based on his purported interest in the suit's outcome, arguing he had
• Tampa Brass & Aluminum Corp. v. Am. Emp'rs' Ins. Co.
  709 So. 2d 548· Fla. 2d DCA· 1998-02-13 ·cited 5×
  The court held that a witness's admitted history of lying, without expert testimony on their mental inability to understand the duty to tell the truth, is insufficient to disqualify them under § 90.603(2), Fla. Stat.
• A & A Elec. Servs., Inc. v. Jurado
  198 So. 3d 37· Fla. 2d DCA· 2015-08-26 ·cited 4×
  A & A Electric Services appeals a judgment awarding Jaime Jurado 49% of profits from Cape Coral construction projects based on an alleged joint venture. The court reversed, holding that Jurado failed to introduce competent, substantial evidence proving a joint venture existed wit
• Belcher v. Johnson
  834 So. 2d 422· Fla. 2d DCA· 2003-01-17 ·cited 4×
  The court quashed a protective order preventing deposition of an incapacitated elderly woman, holding that incapacity for guardianship purposes does not automatically disqualify a witness from testifying, and remanded for a hearing under Florida Statute § 90.603 to determine actu
• Horn v. State
  736 So. 2d 728· Fla. 2d DCA· 1999-06-16 ·cited 4×
  Robert Horn appeals his convictions for sexual battery on a child and lewd and lascivious conduct, challenging child hearsay testimony, victim competency, and sentencing calculations. The court affirms the convictions but reverses the sentence due to errors in the sentencing guid
• Anderson v. State
  642 So. 2d 109· Fla. 1st DCA· 1994-09-08 ·cited 4×
  Steven Anderson was convicted of lewd and lascivious assault on a child based solely on hearsay statements from an incompetent seven-year-old victim. The appellate court affirmed the conviction but certified to the Florida Supreme Court a question of great public importance regar
• United States v. Barker
  942 F.2d 585· 9th Cir.· 1991-04-17 ·cited 4×
  The court held that the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction for presenting false claims, that the statute does not require an offsetting undercharge, and that the expert witness was qualified.
• St. Luke Gregory, Jr. v. State OF N.C.
  900 F.2d 705· 4th Cir.· 1990-04-04 ·cited 4×
  The dissenting judge would hold that any error in admitting a hearsay statement was harmless, and would reverse the grant of habeas corpus, finding the jury verdict reliable.
• Palmer v. Liberty Nat'l Life Ins. Co.
  499 So. 2d 903· Fla. 1st DCA· 1986-12-22 ·cited 4×
  Where an applicant completes an insurance application and pays the initial premium but then instructs the agent not to submit the application, the application is withdrawn before submission, and the insurance company owes no duty to submit, accept, reject, or timely process it.
• Ervin Devere Ellison v. Sachs
  769 F.2d 955· 4th Cir.· 1985-08-02 ·cited 4×
  The court affirmed the conviction, finding the admission of the child victim's hearsay statements violated the defendant's Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses.
• United States v. Villalta
  662 F.2d 1205· 5th Cir.· 1981-12-07 ·cited 4×
  The court held that the district court erred in ruling that a witness who acted as an interpreter was incompetent to testify due to his limited Spanish translation abilities.
• United States v. Harris
  534 F.2d 1371· 9th Cir.· 1976-04-26 ·cited 4×
  The court held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying motions for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence regarding a key witness's mental competency, nor in refusing to appoint a psychiatrist.
• United States v. Delgado
  459 F.2d 471· 2d Cir.· 1972-04-28 ·cited 4×
  The court held that the witness's testimony regarding the defendant's possession and negotiation of a forged check was competent, and the conviction stands.
• United States v. Gebhart
  436 F.2d 1252· 8th Cir.· 1971-02-03 ·cited 4×
  A conviction can rest on uncorroborated accomplice testimony if not unsubstantial, and a witness's competency is for the trial court to determine.
• Lullie Hortman v. Henderson
  434 F.2d 77· 7th Cir.· 1970-10-23 ·cited 4×
  The court held that the district court erred in allowing the defendant driver to testify under the Illinois Dead Man Statute, as he was a party and no exception applied, and that the dismissal of the claim for Albert Hortman's death was proper.
• Barber v. Adams
  208 So. 2d 869· Fla. 2d DCA· 1968-04-05 ·cited 4×
  The court held that the trial court correctly excluded testimony under the Dead Man's Statute and that the appellee did not waive her objections.
• United States v. Hicks
  389 F.2d 49· 3d Cir.· 1968-01-25 ·cited 4×
  The court held that a witness's alleged mental instability and motives for testifying do not render her incompetent to testify, but rather go to the weight the jury should give her testimony.
• Ross v. Richter
  187 So. 2d 653· Fla. 2d DCA· 1966-06-08 ·cited 4×
  The court held that the mortgage is enforceable because the defendants' claims of fraud and negligence were not sufficiently proven, and the witnesses to the mortgage, even if employees of the original company, were legally competent.
• Izell J. Postom v. United States
  322 F.2d 432· D.C. Cir.· 1963-08-01 ·cited 4×
  The court held that under D.C. Code § 306, a spouse is competent but not compellable to testify, and a defendant cannot prevent their spouse from testifying if the spouse chooses to do so.
• Stricker v. Morgan
  268 F.2d 882· 5th Cir.· 1959-08-06 ·cited 4×
  The court held that the trial court's findings of fact were not clearly erroneous and that the plaintiff failed to prove entitlement to an interest in the plantation land.
• Otto S. Taylor v. Crain
  224 F.2d 237· 3d Cir.· 1955-06-23 ·cited 4×
  The court held that the Pennsylvania 'dead man' statute does not render a witness incompetent to testify in an admiralty case regarding transactions with a deceased person, as admiralty cases are tried by a judge, not a jury.
• Matz v. United States
  158 F.2d 190· D.C. Cir.· 1946-12-09 ·cited 4×
  The court held that the government can prove a marriage by admissions and circumstantial evidence, not solely by an eyewitness to the ceremony.
• McCALLUM v. Anderson
  147 F.2d 811· 10th Cir.· 1945-01-10 ·cited 4×
  The court held that the beneficiary's claim was barred by laches and the statute of limitations by analogy due to her failure to assert it diligently after knowledge of the trust's depletion and final accounting.
• Williams v. Jacksonville
  26 Fla. 533· Fla.· 1890-06-01 ·cited 4×
  The Florida Supreme Court reversed a trial court's exclusion of a wife as a witness in a suit where both she and her husband were plaintiffs. The court held that statutory reforms allowing married women to testify as to their own interests and, in certain circumstances, as to the
• Lorenz v. Lea G. Lorenz
  157 Fla. 402· Fla.· 1946-05-07 ·cited 3×
  In this protracted marital dispute, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's decision to set aside a divorce decree obtained against an institutionalized wife, but reversed the final decree regarding the counterclaim due to improper service and procedural defects. The
• Ford v. Jpmorgan Chase Bank
  175 So. 3d 375· Fla. 5th DCA· 2015-09-18 ·cited 2×
• State v. Green
  733 So. 2d 583· Fla. 1st DCA· 1999-05-27 ·cited 2×
  Florida sought certiorari review of a trial court order declaring a witness incompetent to testify in a murder retrial. The appellate court denied the petition, finding the trial court properly applied competency standards and committed no abuse of discretion.
• Cherryhomes v. State
  635 So. 2d 985· Fla. 2d DCA· 1994-04-15 ·cited 2×
  George Cherryhomes appeals his conviction for capital sexual battery of his daughter, challenging the admission of his seven-year-old daughter's hearsay statements describing sexual abuse and his own incriminating statement to police. The court reverses, holding that a child's in
• United States v. 1 Parcel OF Real Prop.
  904 F.2d 487· 9th Cir.· 1990-05-29 ·cited 2×
  A claimant's detailed affidavit, even if self-serving, can create a genuine issue of material fact sufficient to defeat a motion for summary judgment in a civil forfeiture action.
• Arencibia v. State
  539 So. 2d 531· Fla. 3d DCA· 1989-03-07 ·cited 2×
  Hector Arencibia was convicted of sexual battery on his seven-year-old child and received a capital life sentence with 25 years minimum mandatory. On appeal, the court found ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to challenge the child's competency to testify before trial,
• United States v. Gomez
  807 F.2d 1523· 10th Cir.· 1986-12-31 ·cited 2×
  The court held that the evidence was sufficient to sustain the conviction and that the defendant was not deprived of a fair trial due to the prosecution's handling of the government's chief witness's employment file.
• DI Battisto v. State
  480 So. 2d 169· Fla. 3d DCA· 1985-12-17 ·cited 2×
  Di Battisto was convicted of grand theft for defrauding an elderly victim of home sale proceeds. On appeal, he challenged the admission of the victim's videotaped deposition taken to perpetuate her testimony, arguing she was able to attend trial. The court affirmed, holding that
• State v. McINTOSH
  475 So. 2d 973· Fla. 4th DCA· 1985-09-11 ·cited 2×
• Cipriani v. SUN Life Ins. Co. OF Am. v. Cipriani
  757 F.2d 78· 3d Cir.· 1985-03-19 ·cited 2×
  The court held that the district court erred in excluding testimony under the Pennsylvania Dead Man's Act and that the evidence presented was sufficient to establish substantial compliance with the policy's change of beneficiary provisions.
• Powell v. State
  373 So. 2d 73· Fla. 1st DCA· 1979-07-20 ·cited 2×
  The court held that the jury's finding of sanity was supported by competent lay testimony and that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding a witness competent to testify.
• United States v. Escamilla
  590 F.2d 187· 5th Cir.· 1979-02-26 ·cited 2×
  The court held that the trial court did not err in denying a motion for continuance for psychiatric examination of a witness, nor in its handling of coconspirator statements, and that sufficient evidence supported the convictions.
• In re Grand Jury Proceedings. United States v. Martin
  539 F.2d 382· 5th Cir.· 1976-09-09 ·cited 2×
  A witness claiming mental or physical impairments is not entitled to a court determination of competency before testifying before a Grand Jury.
• Collie v. State
  267 So. 2d 382· Fla. 3d DCA· 1972-10-10 ·cited 2×
  Defendant's conviction for possession of narcotics and narcotic implements was affirmed; the court rejected challenges to the denial of a speedy trial motion, the validity of the search warrant, the striking of a witness's testimony, and the sufficiency of evidence.
• United States v. 1
  405 F.2d 913· 6th Cir.· 1968-11-25 ·cited 2×
• Fay William Bonner v. Beto
  373 F.2d 301· 5th Cir.· 1967-02-15 ·cited 2×
  The application of Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 711, which rendered a co-principal incompetent to testify for the accused, deprived the appellant of liberty without due process of law under the Fourteenth Amendment.
• Smart v. Foosaner
  169 So. 2d 508· Fla. 3d DCA· 1964-12-15 ·cited 2×
  This case involves a wrongful death claim brought by a woman alleging she was the common law wife of the decedent. The trial court excluded her testimony under the "dead man statute" and then granted a directed verdict against her. The appellate court affirmed the directed verdic
• United States v. Wilcher
  332 F.2d 117· 7th Cir.· 1964-05-20 ·cited 2×
  The court held that the denial of a motion to sever counts in the indictment constituted prejudicial error, requiring reversal.