## Facts

- Silvio Deutor was charged by bill of information with two counts of attempted first-degree murder arising from a shooting in an apartment involving Anita Annunciation and her four-year-old child, Ashley Annunciation.
- At a 1995 jury trial, the jury returned verdicts reflected on the verdict sheet and minutes as: not guilty on the count involving Ashley, and guilty of attempted second-degree murder on the count involving Anita.
- When reading the verdict aloud, the trial court transposed the counts, creating confusion about which count resulted in conviction; the initial appeal likewise misdescribed the verdict.
- Deutor was adjudicated a third felony offender and sentenced to forty years at hard labor without benefits.
- On post-conviction relief, the trial court corrected the minutes to reflect the actual verdicts and granted Deutor a new appeal.
- In the renewed appeal, Deutor challenged (i) alleged exclusion from the child witness’s competency hearing and (ii) the competency determination allowing Ashley to testify.

## Issues

1. Whether the defendant was improperly excluded from the child witness competency hearing.
2. Whether the trial court abused its discretion in finding the child witness competent to testify.

## Decision

- The court affirmed the conviction and sentence.
- The court held the exclusion claim failed because the record showed the defendant was present at the competency hearing.
- The court held the trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding the child competent, based on the child’s responses demonstrating an ability to distinguish truth from falsehood and to communicate information.

## Legal Principles

- A child’s competency to testify turns on understanding and ability to relate facts, not age alone; the trial court’s determination is reviewed for abuse of discretion.
- A defendant has the right to be present at critical stages, but a claim of exclusion is defeated where the record establishes the defendant’s presence.
- Appellate review proceeds on the corrected record where the verdict and minute entries are amended to reflect the jury’s actual findings.

## Conclusion

The court affirmed Deutor’s attempted second-degree murder conviction and habitual offender sentence, concluding the record showed he was present for the child competency hearing and that the trial court acted within its discretion in finding the child witness competent to testify.


State v. Deutor, 842 So. 2d 438 (La. Ct. App. 4th Cir. 2003)