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The prosecutor in the case of a Liberian native charged with repeatedly raping and molesting a 7-year-old girl said Monday that he is filing an appeal of a controversial judge’s ruling that dismissed all charges because an interpreter who spoke the suspect’s rare West African dialect could not be found. Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy called the ruling last Tuesday by Judge Katherine Savage “improper,” adding that his office has “requested that an appeal be taken to reverse the court’s order.”
…Court records, meanwhile, show that an interpreter was “sworn” by a Maryland court on the same day Savage dismissed the case, FOXNews.com has learned. Loretta Knight, a clerk with the court system in Montgomery County, Md., claimed she had been unable to find an interpreter to stay on the case, even after an exhaustive search that included the Liberian Embassy and courts in 47 states. But a look at the court docket for July 17, the day the case was dismissed, shows the entry “Interpreter sworn.” Several items below in the docket, Judge Savage “grants defendant’s oral motion to dismiss case based on a speedy trial violation.”
A review by FOX News of the audio from that hearing shows, however, that an interpreter was present throughout the entire court proceeding, during which time Kanneh’s lawyer, Theresa Chernosky, argued that her client had not been able to get a good job because of unresolved rape charges. Chernosky is heard also telling Savage that her client works at a gas station, and has not signed up for school because of the uncertainty about his future.
The translator can be heard throughout the entire hearing. Savage, however, notes to that the events in the case were “unforeseeable, truly difficult in terms of the interpreter issue.” She then tells the court that “in spite of herculean efforts on the part of the state’s attorney … time has become the enemy.” “What we come back to, then … too much time has passed, is that it’s the defendant who hold speedy trial rights.”
The Washington Post reported, however, that Kanneh had waived his rights to a speedy trial.
Why Savage dismissed the case when records indicate an interpreter had been sworn is just one of several questions raised by an examination of records by FOXNews.com.Records from a case-worker report dated Oct. 31, 2006, show that the case worker visited Kanneh’s residence to check on him and instead found another sex offender, Sehkou Massaquoi, at the home along with two male children who shared the last name of the defendant.
Patterico provides the link to this sick story. As Allahpundit pointed out, the WaPo found several interpreters who speak Vai in the course of an afternoon.
Technically, the alledged rapist was held for 3 years, yet he was freed on bail just after he was arrested. The right to a speedy trial comes into play here.
Prosecutors pointed out that Kanneh attended high school and community college in Montgomery and spoke to detectives in English.
A court-appointed psychiatrist recommended that an interpreter be appointed and judges who handled subsequent hearings heeded that advice.
This just makes me sick to my stomach!
28 Responses to “BUMPED WITH UPDATE: A New Low: Accused child rapist freed because court can’t find interpreter”
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Ain’t Maryland just wonderful folks? Montgomery County (think Rockville, Gaithersburg, Chevy Chase, Silver Spring) is one of the most heavily populated liberal spots in our nation. I would guess second only to San Francisco. This is how they handle things. It helps their cause to have a liberal, democratic crook for a governor (O’Malley) and a senate and house made up of democratic majorities.
Yes, Maryland, the great bastion of liberal ideology. This is the kind of thing liberals favor.
We need to find justice for this little girl but I’m not sure how it will happen.
Then the judge should be held fully liable for this act of stupididy if this molests or papes again then send the rapest to prison and send the judge there as well and give them both life in prison without any parol
This also gives rise to argument that when in America, speak English. The defense attorney is using the no translator excuse but this guy went to school here. Both high school and college.
his is what happens when Liberalism runs amok. The effects of Liberal stupidity are pervasive throughout our society. They are far worse than annoying, they are downright dangerous. They are the formula for cultural and national suicide.
Liberalism is a form of mental illness…
Find out where the dimwit judge, or judges live. Find if any of them have little children or grandchildren. Drop the scumbag off in their hood. See how fast they would change their attitude if one of their little darlings got raped/murdered.
Hey, there is really a legal gap, that foreign suspects should be allowed to be hanged without any trial if they have brazenness to not speak your language!!! That would also ease the situation in Guantanamo…
Damn’ those constitunional nitpickers who invented leftist nonsense like “a defendant is not guilty until a verdict says so”…
Matthias….you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about here. This guy could have and should have been given a fair trial but for the fact that a bunch of liberal judges and prosecutors didn’t want to involve themselves with this case.
In case you are naive, Maryland is ruled by liberal democrats. With one 4 year exception has been so for the last 40 years. They have managed to screw everyone in Maryland over the years and as you can see continue to embarrass people in our state.
amazingly (or not so much) matthias INSTANTLY takes the side of the molester.
I’m shocked.
meanwhile, when called at home by a FOX tv reporter, this “non-english” speakers blurted “I have nothing to say to you” and hung up.
uh huh.
You heard correctly Mike and further it has come out that in Liberia the official language is ENGLISH. So technically this guy has no excuse and the courts don’t either.
IMO this is a classic case of sympathy from the liberals for criminals.
This judge is the Mike Nifong of Maryland. May he be disgraced, disbarred, and sued like Nifong.
Mattias, you are a professional trouble maker.
First off, I don’t think it is the judges responsibility to find an interpreter but the Prosecuter’s.
Second, I can see why after three years if a person was not given a fair trail why the man should not be held. That said, this is a failure of the court system.
Third, my understanding that there were 4 interpreters readily available.
Lastly, my undersdtanding is the man spoke english, so why was the interpreter needed to begin with?
8-
Only partly correct…
The position of the justice-molesters is occupied by the “Don’t ask qeustions- Hang’em high”-amateur-prosecutors on this site.
13.
Wow…that’s sick. You should be embarrassed.
Strike that- more than embarassed, you should be ashamed. To automatically take the side of a child molestor is no better than being a molestor yourself. No wonder either yours or you wife’s religion will approve of your marriage.
I certainly hope you never procreate.
Ted,
I don’t take anybody’s side, but to express that in most western legal systems there is a difference between a suspect and a convicted criminal.
And please let my wife out of this discussion- I don’t refer to yours either!
Mattias, the truth about you sure does hurt you. You have used your wife being muslim as both moral shield and as what you consider trumping argument. Ted saying what he said is fair game.
“I don’t take anybody’s side, but to express that in most western legal systems there is a difference between a suspect and a convicted criminal.”
Then you’ve expressed it very poorly.
In my post, I took no one’s side, but observed the facts.
In your post you took the molestors side simply becasue you have a knee jerk reaction to disagree with what people says on this site (”The position of the justice-molesters is occupied by the “Don’t ask qeustions- Hang’em high”-amateur-prosecutors on this site”).
“And please let my wife out of this discussion- I don’t refer to yours either.”
I’ve never brought my wife into discussion within this site, but you have brought yours. That said, I didn’t talk about your wife, but her religion and observed that if you automatically take the molestor’s side (like you said you did above) I can see why neither of your religions would approve of your marriage, as most religions disapprove of people who approve of or defend child molestors.
What is his wife’s religion?
17-
Ted, you won’t get it, don’t you?
That guy is SUSPECTED to be a child molester. There is an institution called court to find out if he is or not…
18-
Guess what- My wife is a muslima!
And now fellas: keep out my wife of this. I don’t refer to your families either…
well, that explains alot then.
good luck with that.
19, Tell you what Mattias, let’s drop you and your wife in an area where Sharia is the law. Then we will send the local Sheikh a bundle of your comments. Let’s see if you even see a court.
PCD, no kidding. The mullahs would have him beheaded in about 20 seconds flat.
oh, but maybe his wife is one of those “moderate muslims” that I hear so much about, but never really see in the real world.
[…] Right Voices has feedback here. […]
“Ted, you won’t get it, don’t you?
That guy is SUSPECTED to be a child molester. There is an institution called court to find out if he is or not…”
No, I get it. As a matter of fact I asserted the same in post 12, in case you didn’t take the time to read it.
That;s not the point. You didn’t impartially examine the facts, you jumped to the side of child molestors when you said “The position of the justice-molesters is occupied by the “Don’t ask qeustions- Hang’em high”-amateur-prosecutors on this site.”.
Perhaps it is due to you not being able to speak the language and you just don’t realize what you say. I don’t know, but if you can’t speak the languauge advanced enough to portray intricate thoughts accurately, perhaps you should refrain for the debate. After all, I can order in French and ask basic questions, but I would never dream of using the language to engage in political debate!
And as I said, I never refered to your wife, I referred to her religion.
I don’t undertand how one person can be so illogical, how one person can use such fractured thinking Matthias. It isn’t meant as an insult, it is just a factual observation.
Ted, I don’t see that there is any need to waste one more keystroke on this guy, he’s like Shiloh with no command of the English Accent…. I think the first two words he learned were… “Bush Lied”!!!!
there is no convincing him of anything, but I’m sure his “peaceful” wife dosen’t wear a burqa and stay home unless escorted… what do you want to bet?
I’ve been called twice for jury duty and both times were for cases involving people of hispanic descent. I’ve been dismissed from having to serve on both occasions. The first one was for a drug dealer who had been arrested after selling drugs to an undercover officer on three separate occasions. He was sitting there with an ear piece in his ear so that a translator could tell him what was being said. Exactly why are our tax dollars being used to provide translators to people who have broken our laws and have refused to learn the language?
Thats a good question FAO but it’s a moot point in this case. The guy spoke english and in spite of what his attorneys said he spoke it well enough. You do not attend high school and community college with their curriculums and not understand some simple basic rules of the court. As for the charges they say he didn’t understand thats complete and utter bulls. He knew what he did (or at least was accused of) and everything else is pandering to the criminal. But thats Maryland in a nutshell.
Hey BonBon, the problem is that in these third world cesspools, sex with minors isn’t considered unacceptable. In the last 12 months we’ve had at least 3 Amber Alerts wherein men (illegal aliens) in their mid 20s were trying to take their 13-15 yr old ex-girlfriends back to Mexico because her (hispanic, possibly illegal alien) parents had ordered the daughter to stop seeing the man. Am I the only one who sees a problem with the parents here? Why were they allowing their minor daughter to be dating someone in his twenties? These parents had permitted the dating to continue for months before stopping it. I’d have met the man at the door the first time he showed up, he’d have left and never come back. Had he tried to come back, some coyotes would’ve eaten well.