Ray Pocatello v. United States

In a trial before the court without a jury, defendant-appellant, an Indian, was found guilty of forcible rape upon a five-year old female Indian and was committed for imprisonment for a period of 35 years. The offense was committed on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in the State of Idaho and “within Indian country”. Hence, the district court had jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § 1153 .

The crime of “rape” is included among the offenses over which the federal courts have jurisdiction under section 1153, which provides that the “offense of rape shall be defined in accordance with the laws of the State in which the offense was committed * * * ”. Section 18-6101 of the Idaho Code provides in pertinent part:

Under the testimony of the five-year old victim, corroborated by her seven-year old sister, there was ample evidence to sustain the trial court’s finding that the defendant was guilty of the offense charged. A physician who examined the victim a few months after the alleged offense testified that something had penetrated the child’s sexual organs.

The competency of a child as a witness is a matter within the disere tion of the trial judge and his decision will not be disturbed…