Admissibility of evidence — evidential interview — promise to tell truth — amendment of charging document — doing an indecent act on a child under the age of seven years — Evidence Act 2006, s 107 — Evidence Regulations 2007, reg 8(d) — R v Morton HC Wellington CRI-2009-485-51, 20 May 2009 — S v R [2013] NZCA 598. The young person faced two charges of doing an indecent act on a child under the age of seven years. Given the young age of the complainant, the Police proposed that he give evidence by way of the playing of his evidential police interview. The young person challenged the admissibility of the interview, submitting that the interview did not meet the requirements of the Evidence Regulations because the complainant had not promised to tell the truth. The police also applied to amend the dates of the alleged offending on the charging document. The young person opposed this application as well. During the evidential interview the interviewer had asked the complainant to promise to tell the truth, to which the complainant had responded "mmhmm". The Court found that given the complainant's age, this amounted to a valid response in the affirmative. Further the complainant had given coherent and appropriate responses to questions throughout the interview. There was no reason to believe that he had not understood the promise to tell the truth. The Court found that amending the dates of the alleged offending would create no risk of prejudice to the young person. Both applications were granted. Judgment date: 29 September 2021. * * * Note: names have been changed to comply with legal requirements. * **