Florida Statute 90.601 - Full Text and Legal Analysis

The 2025 Florida Statutes

Title VII
EVIDENCE

Chapter 90
EVIDENCE CODE

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F.S. 90.601

90.601 General rule of competency.—Every person is competent to be a witness, except as otherwise provided by statute.

History.—s. 1, ch. 76-237; s. 1, ch. 77-77; s. 22, ch. 78-361, s. 1, ch. 78-379.

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Amendments to 90.601

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 90.601

Total Results: 17

Terry v. State

668 So. 2d 954, 1996 WL 2056

Supreme Court of Florida | Filed: Jan 4, 1996 | Docket: 1686964

Cited 247 times | Published

competent witness has the ability to testify, see section 90.601, Florida Statutes (1993), and unreliability

Rutherford v. Moore

774 So. 2d 637, 2000 WL 1508592

Supreme Court of Florida | Filed: Oct 12, 2000 | Docket: 2518027

Cited 194 times | Published

718 So.2d 159, 162 (Fla.1998); see generally § 90.601, Fla. Stat. (1999). Rutherford cites no case in

Lowe v. State

650 So. 2d 969, 1994 WL 656653

Supreme Court of Florida | Filed: Nov 23, 1994 | Docket: 1346761

Cited 51 times | Published

"every person is competent to be a witness," section 90.601, Florida Statutes (1989), a trial judge is

State v. McFadden

772 So. 2d 1209, 2000 WL 1675950

Supreme Court of Florida | Filed: Nov 9, 2000 | Docket: 1435119

Cited 15 times | Published

of "conviction" when the Legislature enacted section 90.601(1). Roberts, 450 So.2d at 1127 (Anstead, C

Hawk v. State

718 So. 2d 159, 1998 WL 633688

Supreme Court of Florida | Filed: Sep 17, 1998 | Docket: 1515100

Cited 15 times | Published

until the contrary is established. See generally § 90.601, Fla. Stat. (1993). A court's ruling on competency

& SC13-1787 Steven Douglas Hayward v. State of Florida and Steven Douglas Hayward v. Julie L. Jones, etc.

183 So. 3d 286

Supreme Court of Florida | Filed: Jun 25, 2015 | Docket: 2668545

Cited 11 times | Published

So.2d 159, 162 (Fla.1998); see also § 90.601, Fla. Stat. (2007). Section 90.603, Florida Statutes

Helton v. State

641 So. 2d 146, 1994 WL 386430

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Jul 26, 1994 | Docket: 2517542

Cited 7 times | Published

witness, except as otherwise provided by statute." § 90.601, Fla. Stat. (1991). As stated in I.R. v. State

Harmon v. Williams

596 So. 2d 1139, 1992 WL 51242

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Mar 18, 1992 | Docket: 1295787

Cited 6 times | Published

process of law, and she is thus presumed competent. § 90.601, Fla. Stat. (1989); Zabrani v. Riveron, 495 So

Zabrani v. Riveron

495 So. 2d 1195, 11 Fla. L. Weekly 2034

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Sep 23, 1986 | Docket: 1748815

Cited 5 times | Published

contrary is established, Williams, 2 Fla. at 68; see § 90.601, Fla. Stat. (1985), Zabrani has the burden of

Simmons v. State

683 So. 2d 1101, 1996 WL 678686

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Nov 26, 1996 | Docket: 466168

Cited 3 times | Published

every person is presumed competent to testify. § 90.601, Fla.Stat. A person may be disqualified to testify

Martuccio v. DEPT. OF PRO. REGULATION

622 So. 2d 607, 1993 WL 303092

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Aug 12, 1993 | Docket: 547020

Cited 3 times | Published

testifying under the Florida Evidence Code. Section 90.601, Fla. Stat. (1991); Charles W. Ehrhardt, Florida

State v. Stutsman

566 So. 2d 880, 1990 WL 129952

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Sep 11, 1990 | Docket: 547485

Cited 3 times | Published

the contrary, there is no such proscription, see § 90.601, Fla. Stat. (1989), and no such objection was

Farish v. Bankers Multiple Line Ins. Co.

425 So. 2d 12

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Sep 22, 1982 | Docket: 1181701

Cited 3 times | Published

witness, except as otherwise provided by statute. Section 90.601, Florida Statutes (Supp. 1976). [4] However

Wingo v. State

158 So. 3d 743, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 2335, 2015 WL 719004

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Feb 20, 2015 | Docket: 2635791

Cited 1 times | Published

party places competency at issue. See § 90.601, Fla. Stat. (2013); Z.P. v. State,

The State of Florida v. Santiago Aguirre Zuluaga

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Jul 30, 2025 | Docket: 70962800

Published

So. 2d 1101, 1103 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996) (citing § 90.601, Fla. Stat. (1996)). Consistent with this presumption

State v. Green

733 So. 2d 583, 1999 Fla. App. LEXIS 6820, 1999 WL 334756

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: May 27, 1999 | Docket: 64788405

Published

permitted to testify in this case.” Although, under section 90.601, Florida Statutes (1997), every person is presumed

Hackmann v. Hyland

445 So. 2d 1079, 1984 Fla. App. LEXIS 11920

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Feb 21, 1984 | Docket: 64603136

Published

presumed until the contrary is established. See § 90.601, Fla.Stat. (1981); Williams v. McGehee, 2 Fla