Friday, January 30, 2009

Mistrial declared after judge allows deaf witness to IM testimony

From The Morning Call in Allentown, Pa.:


It was trial by instant message in Northampton County Court on Jan. 28 -- until, that is, the judge decided the experiment had failed and declared a mistrial.

With prosecutors' main witness, the accuser, deaf and a sign-language interpreter unavailable, a jury was forced to endure typed questions and answers in the trial of a man accused of assaulting the Easton woman, then breaking into her apartment a week later.

The ad hoc approach to Jennifer Davis' testimony brought protests from Iman R. Sharif's defense attorney and included more than a few strange occurrences: sentences that seemingly made no sense, and at one point a mistaken foray into an e-mail program after Davis accidentally opened it while answering a question.

It also brought concerns from an advocate for the deaf community, who said a trial involving a deaf person shouldn't have gone forward without an interpreter.

Shortly after Davis returned to the stand after lunch, Judge Stephen Baratta sent out the jury and stated the obvious: Testimony by instant message wasn't working.

''It's just going to be a mistrial, if not me then by the Superior Court,'' Baratta said.

Sharif, 36, of East Orange, N.J., faces charges including burglary, stalking, and simple.