Conn. R. Evid. 6-1
Except as otherwise provided by the Code, every person is presumed competent to be a witness.
Conn. Code. Evid. 6-1
COMMENTARY
Section 6-1 establishes a general presumption of competency subject to exceptions. Cf. State v. Weinberg, 215 Conn. 231, 243-44, 575 A.2d 1003, cert. denied, 498 U.S. 967, 111 S. Ct. 430, 112 L. Ed. 2d 413 (1990). Consequently, a status or attribute of a person that early common law recognized as a per se ground for disqualification; e.g., Lucas v. State, 23 Conn. 18, 19-20 (1854) (wife of accused incompetent to testify in criminal proceeding); State v. Gardner, 1 Root (Conn.) 485, 485 (1793) (person convicted of theft incompetent to testify); is now merely a factor bearing on that person's credibility as a witness.
Section 6-1 is consistent with the development of state statutory law, which has eliminated several automatic grounds for witness incompetency. E.g., General Statutes § 52-145 (no person is disqualified as witness because of his or her interest in outcome of litigation, disbelief in existence of supreme being or prior criminal conviction); General Statutes § 54-84a (one spouse is competent to testify for or against other spouse in criminal proceeding); General Statutes § 54-86h (no child is automatically incompetent to testify because of age).
The determination of a witness' competency is a preliminary question for the court. E.g., Manning v. Michael, 188 Conn. 607, 610, 452 A.2d 1157 (1982); State v. Brigandi, 186 Conn. 521, 534, 442 A.2d 927 (1982); see Section 1-3(a).