Child Rapist Goes Free Because Court Can't Find Interpreter

Child Rapist Goes Free Because Court Can't Find Interpreter

www.foxnews.com

ROCKVILLE, Md. — Charges against a man accused of repeatedly raping and molesting a 7-year-old girl were dismissed last week because the court could not find an interpreter fluent in the suspect's native West African language.

Police in Montgomery arrested Mahamu Kanneh in Gaithersburg three years ago after witnesses came forward with the charges. Witnesses and DNA evidence were prepared for a trial.

(visit the link for the full news article)

They had witnesses, and DNA evidence, yet they set him free because they can't find an interpreter?

How can our justice system go so horribly wrong?

People can be locked up and detained indefinitely on mere suspicion, and a child rapist can walk free for something like this.

that would never fly in Canada. Ok postpone maybe, but thrown out, I doubt it. It doesnt suprise me at all though. i hear that in the US a warrant can be thrown out over a simple error in the address. That kind of stupidity has not reached us yet thankfully.

Originally posted by tom goose
that would never fly in Canada. Ok postpone maybe, but thrown out, I doubt it. It doesnt suprise me at all though. i hear that in the US a warrant can be thrown out over a simple error in the address. That kind of stupidity has not reached us yet thankfully.

Thats only the least of it. There was a judge in Vermont who sentenced a child molester who molested several young girls to something like a month in the county jail, the public went ape# and they raised the sentenced but I dont know what it was. I bet it still wasent enough given the crime.

We also have judges that sentence drunk drivers who kill and injure people to probation and or in some cases just rehab when someone was killed or paralyzed for life with severe brain damage. Go figure. It dosent matter if you use a car, a gun, knife, baseball bat, etc you still killed or injured someone.

That's really sick. I'm courious to know if this man is rich. I mean Michael Jackson got away with it cause he's rich and famous, and O.J. got away with murder for the same reason. Maybe if he's rich we could have the reason he wasn't found guilty.

and THIS is why ENGLISH needs to be made the national language and if you can't speak it, you CAN'T become a citizen. And if your hear visiting and commit a crime your a** sits in jail until we are ready to deal with you...since your NOT an american citizen you don't get a speedy trial...or have ANY rights...we will get to you when we can!

Originally posted by shadow_soldier1975
and THIS is why ENGLISH needs to be made the national language and if you can't speak it, you CAN'T become a citizen. And if your hear visiting and commit a crime your a** sits in jail until we are ready to deal with you...since your NOT an american citizen you don't get a speedy trial...or have ANY rights...we will get to you when we can!

I agree 100%. When in public or in any government facility in the US (state, local or federal), hospital, educational facility, etc one should be required to speak English and English only. I dont give a damn what you speak in your own home but when your in public you should speak English only.

Originally posted by shadow_soldier1975
since your NOT an american citizen you don't get a speedy trial...or have ANY rights

This is factually incorrect. Anyone arrested in the U.S. is entitled to the same 'rights' when it comes to due process as any citizen is, including right to remain silent, right to an attorney, right to a speedy trial, etc. Where did you get the notion that those rights ONLY apply to citizens?

AncientMariner

I thought he was innocent untill proven guilty yet everyone keeps referring to him with the title of the crime he is accused? Something wrong with the system indeed.

This is BS. He can speak English, bottom line. Try him or boot him out of the country.

Now for the skeptic in me. This being reported on Fox, is it possible that this has something to do with Maryland being a Democratic state?

Just saying.

Originally posted by intrepid
This is BS. He can speak English, bottom line. Try him or boot him out of the country.

Now for the skeptic in me. This being reported on Fox, is it possible that this has something to do with Maryland being a Democratic state?

Just saying.

To quote a cop friend of mine "when the silver bracelets come out they suddenly speak perfect English"

Truth is, almost anyone in the US can at least speak basic basic English.

English is quite an easy language for a foreigner, but the lingo they'd use in a court case might be difficult even for a veteran. Why dont they give the guy a pda translator so he can look up the terminology he doesn't understand

WAIT A MINUTE folks, think about this another way; We do NOT have all the facts. How long has the man been sitting in jail? How many attempts has the Prosecution made to find an interpreter?

Here is the REAL issue: It is called : DUE PROCESS . EVERY person, no matter how heinous the crime that he is ACCUSED of committing , is entitled to a fair trial, yes? We can all agree on that. If a man cannot speak and tell his side of the story, and cannot consult with his attorneys, then he CANNOT get a fair trial.

What would you do? Hang him because the Prosecutors SAY they have evidence? No evidence has been presented in court, therefore there IS NO evidence. The headline is terrible and misleading; the man was ACCUSED of a crime or crimes, not convicted, so he is an ACCUSED and you cannot call him a child raper or anything else. What if YOU were in some African nation, accused of rape or another serious crime. Let's say that the court told you that they could not find any lawyers there that spoke English and no one in the court could understand you, but you were going to be tried anyway!! You would be outraged, and so should you now.

I am a father of three kids and I think anyone convicted for such atrocities should be imprisoned for life ( the death penalty in this nation is a travesty ) and never ever allowed to be free again. But DUE PROCESS means that occasionally, a guilty person will escape justice. It happens. It hurts a lot when it is a case like this, with supposed victims, but still we CANNOT make even ONE exception. Know why? Because the NEXT exception we make might just be YOU and you might not really be guilty.

Only a trial can determine guilt, not the charges ..that is plain and a fact.To label ANYONE as guilty, or even likley guilty, is wrong and a betrayal of the system we rely on. I am certain that every effort was made to find a way to give this man a fair trial, and when that could not be done in a timely fashion, they had NO CHOICE but to dismiss the charges. Would you say " Let the guy rot in jail until we find an interpreter, even if it takes years"? That is a total violation of the Constitution and the law.

A speedy trial is mandated so that the government cannot just throw people in jail and leave them there for years while they take their sweet time getting their act together. Can't you see the danger? Suppose the evidence was weak, the Prosecutor would have every reason to leave the poor accused soul in jail indefinitely, to avoid having to try a weak case or let the person go and show how lame the charges were to begin with.
Place yourself in the shoes of every person you hear about being charged; you would want a fair and speedy and impartial trial and you would have to speak with your attorneys to plot a defense and to testify you would need interpreters who are certified.

The courts cannot just grab some Joe off the street and make him interpret because no one else could be found. Interpreters must be specially trained, as attorneys will rely on transcripts and absolutely accurate translations for their work and possible appeals. The translation must not only be accurate, but the translator must be familiar with the syntax of ther language, possible variations on words ( such as " The act at the theatre was a bomb ", and : " There was a bomb at the theatre"), etc. Colloquialisms must be known and understood, etc. If a person has a language that is so hard to find a translator for, then the time to think about allowing these people into this nation is BEFORE they get charged with a crime and have to be released due to lack of ability to provide DUE PROCESS , not after.

It is typical for the Prosecutors to say that they have all kinds of evidence when they know that they are never going to actually have to SHOW the evidence; for all we know the DNA showed nothing incriminating at all. Until presented in court, the PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE is all that protects US from someone assuming that the cop's and prosecutors are always right and that a conviction is just a formality.

That is NOT America, that is NOT a free nation. Sure, once in a while a bad guy gets away; even a really bad guy. But better that than to have everyone assume that guilt is assumed because of information released outside of a trial. You have ANY idea how many innocent people have been falsely accused? Millions, thats how many. Maybe this guy did committ these awful crimes, maybe he didn't. We will never know because the State failed to provide this man with DUE PROCESS and without it we are all in danger, we are all at risk, we can all be falsely accused and made to suffer. But when the trial comes, then your side has the chance to refute the accusation.

Without that chance to refute, there is NO justice. Without a trial that is fully in accordance with DUE PROCESS there can be NO justice at all.And do NOT assume that some liberal judge did this after a few minutes thinking about it. I bet the process has dragged on and on and finally it became plain that the trial could not proceed due to lack of DUE PROCESS protections. Any trial would have been a sham and totally one sided and THAT is not our system, that is NOT justice. Either they will deport this guy for some manufactured reason, and if they cannot, then he will be watched and surveilled anywhere he goes, I am sure.

Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater; do not throw away DUE PROCESS that is necessary to us all in order to try and convict a man that has no chance at a fair trial. He is PRESUMED INNOCENT, and to label him as guilty without a trial is to play into the hands of those who would take due process away, like the Cheney/ Bush crime gang. We NEED due process, it is an integral part of our system, and even as it let's a POSSIBLY guilty party escape now and then , far better that than the assumption of guilt and the abrogation of our rights for the expedience of a trial without a chance of being fair or just; a kangaroo court with it's mind already made up.

Try and see the big picture, we do not want to cut off our noses to spite our faces, do we? Let us never do away with Constitutional protections in order to assuage outrage and anger at alleged crimes, even of a terrible nature. To do so endangers all of us in ways that cannot be measured until the curtain has fallen and all rights are up for grabs in the name of ' vengeance' or ' justice '.

Um:

A court-ordered psychiatrist determined that Kanneh, despite his functional facility with English — he originally spoke with detectives in English, The Post reports, needed to have Vai spoken in order to understand the proceedings against him.

The prosecution rests.

[edit on 22-7-2007 by intrepid]

hey EYEWITNESS...how about you walk up to the childs father and tell him that. Tell him your more worried about this guys due process and HIS rights rather then that of a DESTROYED child!!!!!

Tell him that your a father and that you would be ok with watching a man who RAPED your child walk out of the courtroom a free man and will most likely now leave the US and laugh in the face of the father, the child he raped, AND the criminal justice system that has proven its becoming a JOKE!

I hope for your sake eyewitness that none of your children come to you one day and say DADDY I WAS RAPED...because if they do just remember what you said here today...and make sure your prepared to deal with it and be in the position your so easily putting this father...that JUSTICE may or may not work in your favor and you just gotta deal with it!

In my mind, and if this would be my country...this man would sit behind bars until he learns english, IF, IF he did speak english to detectives and now is playing stupid the trial would continue...whether he likes it or not...and if it is proven that these acts did occur, then as soon as the verdict of guilty comes down, he has 2 days before the death penalty is carried out! One day to sit in a cell to think about it and the next walk to the kneeling block where a .45 will be waiting. His death is instant, justice was served, and all at a cost of about $0.65 to the taxpayers! And most importantly a messege sent to all sick F**** out there...go rent porn and leave children alone.

Originally posted by shadow_soldier1975
hey EYEWITNESS...how about you walk up to the childs father and tell him that. Tell him your more worried about this guys due process and HIS rights rather then that of a DESTROYED child!!!!!

Tell him that your a father and that you would be ok with watching a man who RAPED your child walk out of the courtroom a free man and will most likely now leave the US and laugh in the face of the father, the child he raped, AND the criminal justice system that has proven its becoming a JOKE!

I hope for your sake eyewitness that none of your children come to you one day and say DADDY I WAS RAPED...because if they do just remember what you said here today...and make sure your prepared to deal with it and be in the position your so easily putting this father...that JUSTICE may or may not work in your favor and you just gotta deal with it!

In my mind, and if this would be my country...this man would sit behind bars until he learns english, IF, IF he did speak english to detectives and now is playing stupid the trial would continue...whether he likes it or not...and if it is proven that these acts did occur, then as soon as the verdict of guilty comes down, he has 2 days before the death penalty is carried out! One day to sit in a cell to think about it and the next walk to the kneeling block where a .45 will be waiting. His death is instant, justice was served, and all at a cost of about $0.65 to the taxpayers! And most importantly a messege sent to all sick F**** out there...go rent porn and leave children alone.

Couldent have said it better. I am so sick of the criminals having more rights then the victims under our justice system. New York judges are the worst!

I would prefer a public hanging in the town square rather then a bullet but thats my preference, it sends a message to all the other rapists and sex offenders out there.

Also, as an afterthought: Here is a link that perhaps the OP should read.

[ex www.eff.org... /ex]

If someone is going to make an assertion that a man is a child rapist, and the man has never been tried or convicted of such crimes, then it might very wel be a case of either LIBEL SLANDER or DEFAMATION under applicable State laws. Since blogging and online writings in a forum setting are transmitted nationwide, it affects Interstate Commerce and might be regulated by federal libel laws as well.

Far better to say " ALLEGED Child Rapist Freed..". The ' alleged part protects the writer from making statements that could result in actionable charges and suits to correct the false impression made by the headline. No doubt that defendant, presumed innocent, would be outraged to see himself declared to all the world through a very popular site as a " Child Rapist ' even though he has never been tried or convicted.

Accusations are NOT enough to declare a man guilty; it is NOT the American way, and one would be well advised to use a bit of caution while flinging totally unsupported accusations and bold declarations of guilt around lest one find ones self on the wrong end of a civil suit. Just think how much it would piss you off to have to give this guy some money to satisfy him after you called him such a horrible thing with no conviction?

ONLY a conviction from a court of law enables the press or the public to state that a person IS a " child rapist ' or ' burglar ' or ' drug dealer ' or jaywalker '..to insinuate that a man deserves the reputation of someone who has been proven guilty when in fact he HAS NOT been proven guilty is wrong, plain wrong. Just add the word " ACCUSED " to the headline and all is well. That tells the truth, he was accused. And he was presumed innocent. And he never got a fair trial. Therefore he is presumed innocent
.

And innocent people should not be painted with the same brush as the convicted, or we all are able to be convicted in the eyes of our peers, our jurors, and the press long before we get to trial, or even iof we never get there..that cannot be allowed to happen. Never let outrage strip away out humanity and the observance of the rule of law and of DUE PROCESS, our only real protection against false charges and false assumptions.

The court determined that he could not aid his defense well enough to help his case, and no doubt with good reason. Knowing a few words of Spanish, as I do, would NOT help me in a Spanish courtroom; one must be FLUENT and of average intelligence just to comprehend some of the vagaires of the law and procedure. Someone with little command of the language would not have a chance, and that is why the judge ruled as he did.

the judge KNEW he was going to take a lot of heat from the ' get a rope ' crowd emotionally exasperated at the system and because of the severity of the alleged crimes. Severity of crime does NOT mean anything to the system and due process, nothing; except that the more serious the charges, the more necessasry due process becomes. Lawyers know it, cop's know it, courtroom personnel know it, it happens. And when it does it can either bring out the lunch mob mentaility or the thoughful appreciation of our system for making sure that no one, not even those accused of terrible crimes, will be denied their rights and due process.

It keeps the system healthy to insure strict observance of rights, it has no down sides, except that once in a while, a truly guilty party will escape justice. But that happens all the time anyway; every crook not yet caught is getting away with things, career criminals get away with far more crimes than they ever get caught for, so they get away with it. People get away all the time, and it is a crying shame that a child rapist, or even an ALLEGED child rapist, could get away; it is sickening, I admit.

But better to be sickened by the occasional travesty than for all of us, every one of us, to be sickened by the denial of due process and fundamental rights that would result from assuming guilt instead of innocence when faced with accusation of crime. We would ALL end up victims if we allow our feelings and emotions to write the law, instead of the ultimate protection of the many by a system that admittedly allows the few to not receive justice from the system.

It is principle, and law and the long term good, that must be the standard. If we allow ourselves to become less than avid proponents of the due process clause, we are inviting not only more abuses from the system, but no guarantee that the truly guilty would be convicted in any greater numbers than present. Protect the Constitution, and it will protect YOU; remember, the reverse is also true. See the big picture.

Again you guys are assuming that the guy is guilty.

The Law and Justice are supposed to be "reason, absent of passion" and not based on the whim of an outrage based on the nature or relative heinousness of the crime. If we allow emotions to dictate the proceedings we put every accused at risk and jeopardize the core fondations of the Constitution and the entire justice system, imperfect though that system may be.

And if he is a pedophile he's free to abuse more children. The article says he speak functional English. That's easy to explain to him what's going on.

"You touch girl?"
"You go to court."
"You guilty, you go to jail. 10 years."

I'm sure he can understand that. No trial=no justice. For anyone.

It's definately wrong to let someone just go for a technicality. For him I'd imagine if he is innocent it would be better to stand trial and be proven so. If he's guilty then off to jail. Now everyone is just assuming he is guilty wheter it is so or not.