For Writers with knowledge of History

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Hello, fellow writers! I was wondering if you could help me out with an aspect of law as practiced back in the 1960s. In my current work of fiction, a little girl witnesses a murder while visiting New York city, in the early 60s. She is from another state. Would she be allowed to return to her hometown or could she be held for questioning, even though she is a child? If so, where and how would she be held, and for how long? If not, would she be allowed to return to her hometown, but have to be available for questioning later?

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated! The more details, the better.

This is some very technical stuff that you want to know about. I expect you'll have to do the research on your own. Honestly, it should be no problem if you fudge it; going for %100 accuracy in historical fiction causes about as many problems as it solves.

I don't know the answers to any of your questions, but I've been doing historical research lately for a story and found several sources on the interweb. (I just had to poke around a bit.) You might check some crime movies of the 1960's, or television dramas. (Perry Mason) If you can't find the exact answer, have a detective tell the girl's parent that she has to stay because she's witnessed a crime, then he walks into another room with police officer who tells him, you can't make her stay, and he replies they don't know that.

(Good to see you're still around ! !)

Thank you for the replies ( and good to see you around, too, Prof!) I am still digging around for info; I am very meticulous about my facts, you know!

It doesn't nail New York law in the 1960's, but it does give a good overview of child testimony in court.

http://voices.yahoo.com/do-children-goo ... 18425.html

You should have asked for a "legal expert", and not a "history expert", because it is a legal issue, and one in which the laws probably havent changed much since the time in question