United States v. IMM
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
747 F.3d 754 (2013)
- Written by Kyli Cotten, JD
Facts
IMM (defendant), a juvenile, was charged under federal law for sexually abusing his then six-year-old cousin. At trial, the government (plaintiff) called the cousin’s younger brother to testify against IMM. The trial-court judge examined the child’s competency by asking questions regarding his understanding of the importance of telling the truth, and the judge determined that the child was competent to testify. On cross-examination, the defense elicited testimony that the child did not recall what happened and that he was told what to say by his mother. Nevertheless, IMM was ultimately convicted of the charges. On appeal, IMM argued that the child’s testimony should have been excluded because the child could not understand what an oath requires and thus was not competent to testify.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Reinhardt, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
