Posted on 07/22/2007 9:04:45 AM PDT by Altura Ct.
A 7-year-old girl said she had been raped and repeatedly molested over the course of a year. Police in Montgomery County, Md., acting on information from a relative, soon arrested a Liberian immigrant. They marshaled witnesses and DNA evidence to prepare for trial.
What was missing - for much of the nearly three years that followed - was an interpreter fluent in the suspect's native language. A judge recently dropped the charges, not because she found that Mahamu Kanneh had been wrongly accused but because repeated delays in the case had, in her view, violated his right to a speedy trial.
"This is one of the most difficult decisions I've had to make in a long time," Katherine Savage said from the bench Tuesday, noting that she was mindful of "the gravity of this case and the community's concern about offenses of this type."
Loretta Knight, the circuit court clerk responsible for finding interpreters, said her office searched exhaustively for a speaker of Vai, a tribal language spoken in West Africa. They contacted the Liberian Embassy, she said, and courts in all but three states. Linguists estimate that 100,000 people speak Vai, mostly in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
In arguing to save the case, Assistant State's Attorney Maura Lynch said that dismissing the indictment "after all the efforts the state has made to accommodate the defendant would be fundamentally unfair."
Prosecutors, who cannot refile the charges against Kanneh, are considering whether to appeal Savage's ruling. Kanneh was granted asylum in the United States, according to State's Attorney John McCarthy. A conviction could have led to deportation proceedings. His attorney, Theresa Chernosky, declined to comment. Delays were compounded by a dispute about whether Kanneh required an interpreter at all.
The proliferation of languages resulting from immigration trends is presenting courts with a novel challenge, legal and linguistics experts say. Rarely, however, does a court have such difficulty finding an interpreter that a criminal case must be dropped.
Court interpreters and linguists say a national database of court interpreters would help quickly locate people fluent in uncommon languages. "It's a time-consuming problem and sometimes insoluble problem," said Nataly Kelly, a linguist who edited a book on interpreters.
Knight said the county spent nearly $1 million on interpreters last year, 10 times the amount it spent in 2000. "It's a constant struggle, and it is extremely expensive," she said.
Kanneh was arrested in August 2004, after witnesses told police that he raped and repeatedly sexually molested the girl, a relative.
In a charging document, Detective Omar Hasan wrote that the girl "attempted to physically stop the behavior from the defendant, but was unsuccessful." Hasan wrote that Kanneh threatened the young girl "with not being able to leave the apartment unless she engaged in sexual behavior with the defendant."
Kanneh spent one night in jail and was released on a $10,000 bond with the restriction that he have no contact with minors. He later waived his right to a speedy trial - in Maryland, defendants have a right to be tried within 180 days following an indictment - because the defense wanted time to conduct its own analysis of DNA evidence. That waiver was effective only until the next scheduled trial date, Chernosky argued in court.
The trial date was extended repeatedly as the state and the defense argued over whether Kanneh needed an interpreter and whether he understood the legal proceedings. The state noted that Kanneh attended high school and community college in Montgomery and spoke to detectives in English. The defense insisted that he needed an interpreter to fully understand the proceedings.
The matter was resolved after a court-appointed psychiatrist who evaluated Kanneh recommended that an interpreter be appointed. Judges who handled subsequent hearings heeded that advice.
The first interpreter stormed out of the courtroom in tears because she found the facts of the case disturbing. A second interpreter was rejected for faulty work. After calling the Liberian Embassy and exhausting other avenues, the clerk's office contacted the administrator of the state's court interpreter program in Annapolis. He located a third Vai interpreter, but that person chose not to participate at the last minute.
Earlier this month, Chernosky filed a motion seeking to have the indictment dismissed, arguing that Kanneh's right to a speedy trial had been violated. "This delay is just too long," she argued in court. "The reasons for the delay are not the defendant's fault."
With help from the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators, The Washington Post identified three Vai interpreters Thursday, including one in Montgomery County. Lionbridge, a company that offers interpretation services, said it could provide Vai speakers on short notice. Knight said her office had been diligent. "It's these rare languages we're struggling with so much," she said.
By the time the charges were dismissed, court officials had located another interpreter. In court, Savage attributed no blame for the delay. She called the prosecutor's efforts to help locate an interpreter "Herculean" and said the court system had learned from the case. "Time has become the enemy," the judge said.
I have the strangest feeling that if the judge had said, “Hanged by the neck until dead”, an observation of the culprit would have revealed a good understanding of English. Any bets?
How very sad. Makes you angry. I hope this perp stumbles on some other form of justice.
And we can’t even get this puke out of our country. Judge needs to be removed. I bet there are several hundred college students here who could translate.
It’s amazing what suddenly promotes fluent English spurting from these guys mouths.
The official language of Liberia is English. His prosecution in Liberia would most likely have been in English.
None of this is going to happen. This is one of the reasons I like Bill O’Reilly. I hope he takes up for this little girl.
That's all you need to know. Montgomery County Maryland is the Cindy Sheehan of liberal counties.
wrong....should have hanged the lib/dem judge!!!!!
So, under the logic of this decision, if you speak Vai, you now have a license to commit crimes with impunity.
This judge should be disbenched.
More like the DA needs to be sacked by voters & a bunch of prosecution atty's need to be shown the door.
All the liberians I know are awash in cash and fluent in english (although they type in allcaps).
I was the chief Italian interpreter for the SDNY for many years, and worked before that for state courts in New York State (and in Italy, Switzerland, France). It is very common for a defendant to claim that he does not understand English well enough to participate in his own defense. It is up to the judge to make a decision regarding the truthfullness of the claim. Since this defendant attended secondary educational facilities that were conduted in English, and since he spoke to the police in English at first, the judge was being "politically correct" in his ruling, but denying justice to the citizens whom he is supposed to be serving.
Why would a psychiatrist testify as to the language needs of a defendant, BTW? Could I then testify as to the sanity of a defendant whom I was interpreting for?
In the article, there is whining about the cost of hiring silmultaneous interpreters, and then complaints that there are so few available - perhaps the solons here should try consider if one circumstance flows for the other.
The judge is a leading contestant in the first annual Nifong Legal Excellence Award. Recall from the bench or impeachment for cause is certainly in order. Prosecution failed for not moving the venue of the case to Washington D.C. or NYC where availability of persons fluent in every language is certain. A translator from a Government agency is also not out of the question in extreme cases which this one definitely is.
Just saw this report on fox, they said they had a ten minute interview with the scum bag in English. The woman judge and the court lady that bought the song and dance BS about an interpreter need to be hung.
How about we don’t permit one more immigrant to come to this country without demonstrating a 12-grade fluency in English?
No doubt he was on the fast-lane to a Z-visa...
Lack of language skills will delay suspect's trial (Rapist/Killer illegal from El Salvador )
I speak English. I want a translator and special privileges!
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