Man Raped 7 Y.O. Girl, Freed Because He Can't Speak English

[Matt Molnar]

Interpreter Trouble Ends Sex-Abuse Case (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/22/AR2007072200673.html)

The Associated Press
Sunday, July 22, 2007; 3:53 PM

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- Charges against a man accused of raping and repeatedly molesting a 7-year-old girl have been dropped because the court took too long to find an interpreter fluent in his native West African language.

Montgomery County Circuit Judge Katherine D. Savage dismissed the nearly three-year-old case against Mahamu Kanneh last week, saying the delays had violated the Liberian immigrant's right to a speedy trial.

"This is one of the most difficult decisions I've had to make in a long time," Savage said from the bench Tuesday. She said she was mindful of "the gravity of this case and the community's concern about offenses of this type."

Prosecutors are considering whether to appeal the dismissal. They cannot refile the charges. More... (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/22/AR2007072200673.html)

[hiss srq]

Now when the court of our great nation fails you on a level like this I find it 100% justifyable to take justice into the hands of the people. This man should die for his actions and because the little basterd cannot speak english and the court cannot find an someone to translate he is free to do it again. If he gets murdered on the streets for his actions I would support it. This is bull****. Things like this honestly enrage me. A new low folks a new low. He raped the girl and if DNA testing alone could verify all of this to me that is enough. Screw that he cannot speak the language. Another reason and another case for my views on immigration and laguage issues!

[cancidas]

spellman, the reason we have the courts is to determine if the guy did it or not. i think its absolutely inexcusable that this happenned, and whoever screwed this up should lose thier job, but there is no way i can agree with you that this man should be murdered for suspicion. if he did it, then he needs to be punished. before the man is punished though he needs to be proven guilty.

[RDU-JFK]

...though he needs to be proven guilty.

And now we'll never know...damn shame. And if he is guilty, kill the bastard.

[Midnight Mike]

Oh, here we go, the guy was able to speak ENGLISH!
http://en.sevenload.com/videos/qZElW9B/ ... ks-English (http://en.sevenload.com/videos/qZElW9B/Big-Story-Accused-rapist-speaks-English)

[hiss srq]

spellman, the reason we have the courts is to determine if the guy did it or not. i think its absolutely inexcusable that this happenned, and whoever screwed this up should lose thier job, but there is no way i can agree with you that this man should be murdered for suspicion. if he did it, then he needs to be punished. before the man is punished though he needs to be proven guilty.
And he could have, watch the video Matt. Watch the video. Now tell me this is not a let down of massive puportions. I am beside myself with rage that our great court system could be soo incompetent as to allow this to take place.

[Tom_Turner]

Our great court system ? Its not what it was I don't think.

#1 Lesson here.... There should be no more immigration/student visas etc from whatever part (or whole) of West Africa this person came from until such time the govt (legislative/judicial/executive whatever) can figure out how our laws will effectively apply to these people.

[NcSchu]

Our great court system ? Its not what it was I don't think.

#1 Lesson here.... There should be no more immigration/student visas etc from whatever part (or whole) of West Africa this person came from until such time the govt (legislative/judicial/executive whatever) can figure out how our laws will effectively apply to these people.

How is this at all fair? You just applied a disgusting characteristic of this person to an entire region of people.

[hiss srq]

I agree with Tom but not only for that region of that continent but overall. It brings me back to the one country one language philosophy. You want in you do it one way. Things like this should geberally dissapear in those cases.

[PhilDernerJr]

How is it unfair? The disgusting characteristic is that hes a rapist, and he ended up going free because of his foreign citizenship.

[Matt Molnar]

How is this at all fair? You just applied a disgusting characteristic of this person to an entire region of people.

I don't mean to speak for Tom, but I think he means that we should be prepared to administer legal proceedings in a language before we allow speakers of that language to live here, not that all Africans are kidrapists.

[Tom_Turner]

How is this at all fair? You just applied a disgusting characteristic of this person to an entire region of people.

I don't mean to speak for Tom, but I think he means that we should be prepared to administer legal proceedings in a language before we allow speakers of that language to live here, not that all Africans are kidrapists.


Thanks, yes that is it exactly GothamSpotter.. :D

Nschu - I hope you read what I wrote again initially and I think you will realize that was what I was writing.

[NcSchu]

Thanks, yes that is it exactly GothamSpotter.. :D

Nschu - I hope you read what I wrote again initially and I think you will realize that was what I was writing.

Sorry, my mistake, though you still would be punishing an entire region of people for one court's foulup. I'm sure every court in the country doesn't have 24-hour access to a translator for every single language spoken in the world.

[PhilDernerJr]

Punishing an entire region how? Making sure we're prepared SHOULD a crime be committed is a punishment?

[NcSchu]

Punishing an entire region how? Making sure we're prepared SHOULD a crime be committed is a punishment?

Because people who would like to live here or even just go to school here will be completely barred from doing so simply because this one judge was an idiot. Did you watch the report on Fox how 3 translators were easily found by the Washington Post?

[PhilDernerJr]

But if we are letting people get away with crimes such as RAPE because of language barriers, some new procedures and preparations need to be in place.

[Tom_Turner]

It gets better.....

http://blog.jonolan.net/politics/the-no-talkie-defense/

Judge Savage decided that, after three years of supposedly trying to get a translator for Mr. Kanneh’s native Vai tongue - a tribal language spoken by approximately 100,000 people worldwide - that Mr. Kanneh’s right to a speedy trial had been violated.

This is one of the most difficult decisions I’ve had to make in a long time
– Judge Katherine D. Savage

The Author wonders how it could be other a “most difficult decision” to release an accused child rapist back into society without first allowing a jury to determine his guilt or innocence. Judge Savage had to carefully weigh the facts that: Mahama Kanneh attended high school and community college in Maryland, spoke English to detective and court representatives throughout the proceedings, and had previously waved his right to a speedy trial so that his defense team could conduct its own analysis of DNA evidence. It must have been very hard for Judge Savage to twist the facts in such a way so as to be able to possibly release yet another pedophile back into society.

This must have been especially difficult for Judge Savage to accomplished since one of the primary purposes for The Right To A Speedy And Public Trial is to prevent undue and oppressive incarceration prior to trial. Mahamu Kanneh had only spent one night in jail and was released on a $10,000 bond with the restriction that he have no contact with minors

[Tom_Turner]

Three interpreters already...

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 at the last minute, that person had to tend to a family emergency.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 660_2.html (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/21/AR2007072100660_2.html)

[Tom_Turner]

10x the cost of interpreters in one year due to criminals' needs..... And lets not forget, the child RAPIST was granted "Asylum" in the US to begin with.... He's leading a charmed life it seems..

__________________________________________________ ___

In Montgomery and elsewhere, the proliferation of languages resulting from immigration 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. "The burden of increased requests for rare languages makes it a necessity," said Nataly Kelly, author of a book on interpreting.

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.

[Tom_Turner]

My sentiments exactly.... this is pure BULL ****!!!!

http://www.nicedoggie.net/2007/?p=870

So the very day a qualified interpreter is sworn in and present during the entirety of the proceedings, “Judge” Savage decides to dismiss the case in response to a hastily submitted oral motion? Gee, I wonder why defense counsel suddenly remembered the whole “speedy trial” bit on the exact same day that their delaying game was over?

Particularly since “speedy trials” weren’t always all that important to them:

The Washington Post reported, however, that Kanneh had waived his rights to a speedy trial.

So defendant initially waives his right to a speedy trial in order to drag out proceedings with all of the little reindeer games that his counsel can think of and then, once they run out of tricks and the last one has reached its sell-by date because an interpreter shows up, they suddenly change their minds and insist that the case be dismissed on grounds that the right that they themselves waived has been violated?

And the “Judge”, being the cupid stunt that she obviously is, immediately forgets that little fact and dismisses the case.

Suuuuuure, she was only acting in the way that the law demanded that she act.

[Tom_Turner]

Liberia's official Language... ENGLISH...

http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=liberia

Republic of Liberia. 3,390,635. National or official language: English. Literacy rate: 25% (1989 WA).