Posted on 07/19/2007 4:35:12 PM PDT by TornadoAlley3
The Minnesota Supreme Court today overturned a sexual assault conviction of a Somali man, who made incriminating statements in English, but was not given his Miranda rights in his native language.
Plymouth police arrested Burhan Mohammed Farrah on Nov. 20, 2003, in the parking lot of an apartment complex. A 14-year-old developmentally disabled girl reported being attacking in the same parking lot.
An officer read Farrah his rights in English and had him sign a rights waiver written in English.
"Do you understand your rights?" the officer asked.
"Okay. Little, yeah," Farrah replied.
Police proceeded with the interrogation in English and Farrah made incriminating statements to police in English. He was charged and convicted of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact in Hennepin County District Court. Farrah was provided an interpreter at his trial.
After examining the police interrogation, the Supreme Court in a 4 - 3 ruling threw out the conviction and ordered a new trial. The court ruled it was unclear whether Farrah's waiver of rights "was made with a full awareness of both the nature of the rights being abandoned and the consequences of the decision to abandon it."
"To protect or facilitate the exercise of constitutional rights, it is the express policy in Minnesota to provide qualified interpreters to assist persons in legal proceedings who are handicapped in communication," writes Chief Justice Russell Anderson for the court.
Justice Lorie Skjerven Gildea, joined by justices Helen Meyer and G. Barry Anderson, disagreed with the majority finding that Farrah's English skills "were sufficient to support a knowing waiver."
While this ruling ticks me off, it sounds like the prosecution has enough other evidence to convict without the statement in the re-trial.
Why is it that with the IRS, they don’t take ignorance of the law as an excuse (what’s the tax table up to now, 14,000 pages), but if your a stinking criminal, you have to be read a poem about your rights . . . a set of words, by the way, that cannot be found in the Constitution?
and in your native language, not in English.
Dumb-ass nation is as dumb-ass nation does.
Yo no se.
Attn: Illegals. Come to Minnesota and commit all the crimes you want. When they catch you, claim you don’t understand English and they will let you go.
Somalistan ~ the court makes decisions like this and has no idea what the “native language” of Minnesota might be.
Me no good speak English. Judge say me yes OK rob, rape, kill ‘cause me no good English. Me happy me no can good English. Me laugh America. Me laugh liberal America judge. Me laugh stupid America people. Me want crime much. Me yes crime ‘cause me no good English. Now me want vote. Me want be Democrat.
What a stupid decision. It evidently mean police country-wide have to employ/have access to interpreters of every language.
Do Liberals drink tainted water?
The Poe’lice now need:
1. press 1 foe black phonics.
2. for skinny slam
3. for moozie muck
Thank You, now here is your Miranda Rights.
Nuts just Nuts.
You forgot “Para Español Oprima 4.”
Their state bird, the LOON, also sits upon the bench.
So he doesn’t understand english, but knows enough to CONFESS in english?
ping
Does anyone know the legal status of this man? I mean in terms of his presence in this country.
Are the scumbags on this court elected or appointed?
Are they there for life?
Lord help our Republic (and some of it’s States)!!!
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