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Friday, November 10, 2006
Ind. Courts - "Judge hints molest suspect faking need for interpreter"
Dionne Waugh of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reports today:
An Allen Superior Court judge accused a Somali defendant of playing games Thursday when he said he didn’t understand a court hearing to delay his case.“When I came in I saw him talking (in English) to the defendant he’s attached to and I don’t think he speaks Mai Mai,” Allen Superior Judge Fran Gull said, referring to the defendant’s native language.
Gull said she also saw Omar A. Abshir, 20, of the 2800 block of Westbrook Drive, talking to his attorney, Stephen Miller, and she didn’t think he spoke Mai Mai either.
After talking with Miller, Gull set another hearing for next week so that an interpreter could be present to explain the legal proceedings to Abshir.
Abshir is accused of molesting a child and threatening the child with a knife. He’s charged with criminal confinement and three counts of child molesting, and is being held in jail on $110,000 bail.
The court has had difficulty finding a Mai Mai interpreter, Gull said in court.
In Indianapolis, where there is a burgeoning population of Somali immigrants, Gull said their courts have run into problems with the translators being friends or related to the defendants, which has prevented them from translating.
Abshir’s best friend translated for him at a previous proceeding.
Though Gull called a 24-hour language company in California on Thursday morning, that company couldn’t find such an interpreter on such short notice.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 10, 2006 08:27 AM
Posted to Ind. Trial Ct. Decisions | Indiana Courts