Mahamu Kanneh, a Liberian native who received asylum in this country and attended high school and community college here, according to The Washington Post, was denied a speedy trial after three years awaiting a court-appointed interpreter who could speak the tribal language of Vai.
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.
See link - http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,290300,00.html
Question - What are your thoughts on this ?
2007-07-22 19:40:50 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Government
He went to high school and college in the US and he needed an interpreter after that? Sounds pretty lame to me, especially since he was proven to be functional in English, why didn't he stand trial and even worse, sent free??
2007-07-22 19:55:41 · answer #1 · answered by jmp78 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Most people who speak English don't understand the court system!
It wasn't Kanneh who let him back on the streets, One would think that they could find an interpreter in 3 years!
My God, I went on line and found where to get one in 3 minutes!
The Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) runs the
Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS), which is the recommended translator service for
medical consultations. The telephone interpreting service is free to any doctor in private
practice for a consultation claimable under Medicare. It is the health care provider’s
role to book an interpreter.
Registration with TIS can be done by phone or fax, and each GP is issued with a Client Code
Number. Appendix 1 contains a guide for practice staff and proformas for registration and
bookings with TIS.
Also
Look at the date the job was posted? Think the court tried really hard, especially when the Post found 3 in one day!
Vai Interpreter
Job # 30525 posted on July 19, 2007 at 21:52 GMT
The Washington Post reported that it identified three Vai interpreters Thursday with help from the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters, including one in Gaithersburg.
The courts screwed up!
2007-07-22 20:07:34 · answer #2 · answered by cantcu 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Sounds like, yet again...another freaking loophole that some bastard predator found.....what the hell???
He speaks English....functional english????
Sounds like this "court ordered" psychiatrist needs to find a new job. Does it really matter whether he speaks his native language when he has mastered the language of the land that he broke the law in. If he is lucky, maybe he will be charged again...
Maybe there has been enough publicity with this case that he will never walk alone again....who knows maybe he will never walk again....just to protect the rest of the children!!
What a jerk...him and the attorney that represented him .
2007-07-22 19:55:00 · answer #3 · answered by yidlmama 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
i just did a school report on that a few minutes ago! haha
if Mahamu could speak and understand english, why did they still need an interpreter? did he have a heavy accent?. for a sexual abuse case, i think the court should have waited for a new interpreter (3 were given, and 1 was about to be given before judge dismissal) it's unfair for the family who is affected by Mahamu.
i just don't like judicial loopholes that work for the prosecuted...
2007-07-22 19:53:18 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I gave these answers 5/6 days ago and i maintain my views.
1/ Usually i am very open minded and open to conviction but up to now my view about applying the death penalty to people who , in all knowledge , are found guilty of sexual abuses to children has not changed.
I am for it and rigid about it.
Question about Justice./Vengeance
2/ Sometimes it can be Justice.
If someone is found guilty of rape , as an example , admits his crime but is not condemned because the prosecution has not well prepared or wrongly prepared the accusation act ,i can understand vengeance from the close relatives of the victim..
If ever it happens to a close relation of mine , obviously i do not want it to happen , i will deal personally , in a way or another , with the rapist.
2007-07-22 20:23:12 · answer #5 · answered by d260383 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Our thoughts, write a letter to Atty. John M. McCarthy, we did.
Copy of our e-mail sent to Attorney John M. McCarthy info@johnmccarthy.us :
On our subject line: ( Attorney John McCarthy: Rearrest that rapist Mahamu Kanneh!! Liberia's national language is English. )
Dear Attorney John McCarthy,
For your information to strengthen your case. Hopefully this will help you to get that Liberian citizen Mahamu Kanneh, rearrested. He is a liar and now aware Americans unfamiliar with English as Liberia's national language. http://www.tlcafrica.com/research.htm
I am glad Shaun Hannity of FoxNews showed concern about this particular situation. And you Attorney McCarthy should get justice for this 7 years old girl, because, Black on Black crime always been ignored. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,290300,00.html
It is really shameful, Americans are unaware how Liberia became a republic in 1847 and its Constitution modeled after the U.S. Constitution.
The country was given the name Liberia to liberate the Africans (Mandingo Tribe etc. ) from American slavery/American Oppression.
Liberia came an independent republic in 1847, years after Pres. James Monroe death. Yet, Liberia's capital named after him is called, Monrovia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Monroe
The year Liberia came into existence:
http://gbgm-umc.org/country_profiles/countries/lbr/Missionprofile.stm
Liberia owes its establishment to the American Colonization Society, founded in 1816 to resettle freed American slaves in Africa. An attempt at colonization in Sierra Leone had failed in 1815. Six years later native rulers granted a tract of land on Cape Mesurado, at the mouth of the Saint Paul River, to U.S. Representatives, and the first Americo-Liberians, led by Jehudi Ashmum, began the settlement. In 1894 an American agent for the society, Ralph Randolph Gurley named the new colony, Liberia, and the Cape Mesurado settlement, Monrovia. Other separate settlements were established along the coast during the next 20 years. Soon, however, conflicts arose between the settlers and the society in the United States. By the time Joseph Jenkins Roberts became the first black governor in 1841, the decision was taken to give the colonists almost full control of the government. A constitution modeled on that of the United States was drawn up, and Liberia became an independent republic in July 1847. Roberts was its first president serving until 1856. Britain recognized Liberia in 1848, France in 1852, and the United States in 1862. Note: Slavery was not abolish in the U.S. until 1863.
Yours truly,
xxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxx
p.s. Please, keep us abreast on progress being made on this case.
2007-07-23 22:22:38 · answer #6 · answered by teamscriptwriters 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Judicial loopholes?? Surprise surprise. I think there's much more to this than has been reported, (or perhaps known). I just saw where 43 released sex offenders live on the same block--forget what city. Near a school & park/playground. Seems we're too busy messing up other countries to clean up our own back yards. What do I think? It is an ATROCITY.
2007-07-22 21:14:56 · answer #7 · answered by Valac Gypsy 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yeah, saw it on Fox News. One of the journalists from Fox actually talked to him on the phone & he spoke a sentence of English. I think it's horrible - especially since the Post found 3 translators locally!
2007-07-22 19:47:48 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I think it is bs, if he was educated her, spoke English to detectives, it is just some sort of crooked situation with his lawyer to get him off. I say that child's daddy needs to talk to Mahamu Kanneh, alone in a cell by himself. Bet he can speak English good then.
2007-07-22 19:47:51 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
It seems prosecutors were too busy playing Golf.
Three years searching for a translator? That's ridiculous, he should be fired for being an inept.
2007-07-22 20:11:24 · answer #10 · answered by ? 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋