In Brief
A 12-year-old boy was the sole eyewitness to his mother's alleged murder by two accused. While child witness testimony can support conviction without mandatory corroboration, the Supreme Court held that such evidence must be rigorously scrutinized due to susceptibility to tutoring. Here, the trial court's preliminary examination was cursory (only three basic questions), the boy's account contained material inconsistencies and improved versions, the milkman—the first person the boy disclosed to—was not examined (creating risk of tutoring by family members), and key evidence (footwear) did not match the appellant. The cumulative defects rendered the unsupported child witness testimony unsafe for conviction.
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