{"id":11904,"date":"2010-10-05T03:53:07","date_gmt":"2010-10-05T08:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=11904"},"modified":"2010-10-05T05:15:38","modified_gmt":"2010-10-05T10:15:38","slug":"dallas-county-exoneration-shows-changes-needed-to-deal-fairly-with-the-deaf-lawyers-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2010\/10\/05\/dallas-county-exoneration-shows-changes-needed-to-deal-fairly-with-the-deaf-lawyers-say\/","title":{"rendered":"Dallas County exoneration shows changes needed to deal fairly with the deaf, lawyers say"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dallas County exoneration shows changes needed to deal fairly with the
\ndeaf, lawyers say<\/strong><\/p>\n

October 2, 2010<\/p>\n

By JENNIFER EMILY \/ The Dallas Morning News
\njemily@dallasnews.com<\/p>\n

There’s no doubt Stephen Matthew Brodie’s deafness contributed to his
\nwrongful conviction nearly two decades ago for the sexual assault of a
\n5-year-old Richardson girl.<\/p>\n

He was finally exonerated this week \u2013 becoming the nation’s first deaf
\nexoneree \u2013 after a judge heard about a plethora of missteps by Richardson
\npolice and declared him innocent.<\/p>\n

But in many ways not much has changed among police and prosecutors since
\nBrodie was falsely convicted. The Dallas County district attorney’s office,
\nwhich asked a judge to release Brodie, still has no policy to deal with deaf
\ndefendants but acknowledged Friday that Brodie’s case has made authorities
\nrealize they need one.<\/p>\n

And not all police departments follow what are considered best practices
\nwhile interrogating deaf defendants.<\/p>\n

For example, prosecutors don’t routinely check whether a deaf defendant had
\na certified interpreter during police questioning, or whether the
\ndefendant’s written words would have a different meaning in American Sign
\nLanguage.<\/p>\n

Defense attorneys Amber D.F. Elliott and Tim Menchu, who both know ASL, say
\nmany of the problems in Brodie’s case would not have happened with a hearing
\nsuspect. And, as egregious as those problems were, they say the situation
\ncould easily happen again.<\/p>\n

“There are still problems,” said Elliott, an Austin defense attorney who
\nworked with Brodie’s attorneys to review the 18 hours of interrogation he
\nwent through over eight days.<\/p>\n

Evidence at Brodie’s exoneration hearing this week showed that sign language
\ninterpreters were not always present during the interrogation.<\/p>\n

And when Richardson police asked Brodie in writing why he abducted and
\nsexually assaulted the girl, he wrote, “I don’t know WHY?” Those words were
\ntaken as a confession until the district attorney’s office began
\nreinvestigating the case.<\/p>\n

Lost in translation<\/p>\n

But Elliott said that in ASL the question is often repeated back in the
\nanswer to questions that ask who, what, where, why, when or how. She said
\nBrodie was saying he didn’t know “why” police kept asking him questions.<\/p>\n

Menchu, who defends many deaf Dallas County defendants, and Elliot both said
\npolice should not have relied on written questions because English is a
\nsecond language to someone who uses ASL.<\/p>\n

“The hearing public generally thinks a deaf person speaks English. But it is
\nAmerican Sign Language, which is a different language,” said Menchu, who
\nlearned to sign because his sister is deaf. “Even if you understand what is
\nliterally said, you may not understand the idea behind it.”<\/p>\n

Terri Moore, first assistant to Dallas County District Attorney Craig
\nWatkins, acknowledged Friday that her office needs to adopt a standard to
\ndeal with the deaf. The number of deaf defendants is small, but Moore said
\nthat doesn’t mean the criminal justice system shouldn’t be prepared.<\/p>\n

“This whole case was a learning experience,” said Moore, who worked on
\nreinvestigating the Brodie case but has never prosecuted or defended a deaf
\ndefendant. “I think this was an eye-opening case, and there’s going to be a
\nlot of conversation about best practices.”<\/p>\n

Moore said the district attorney’s office plans to reach out to Elliott to
\ndetermine a procedure for dealing with the deaf.<\/p>\n

Elliott and Menchu said the Dallas police policy of using an officer as an
\ninterpreter is not the best practice. They said police should use a
\ncertified interpreter who is trained to sign legal words like those that
\ncome up in Miranda warnings when officers ask suspects to waive their
\nrights. Elliott said the ideas of waiving your rights to remain silent and
\nto have an attorney don’t automatically translate in deaf culture.<\/p>\n

“I find that hugely problematic,” Elliott said of the Dallas police policy.
\n“Knowing basic signing and finger spelling is not the same as getting a
\ncertified interpreter who knows how to interpret legal words.”<\/p>\n

Craig Miller, deputy chief over the Dallas police crimes against persons
\nunit, said the department uses officers who sign just as it would use an
\nofficer who speaks French or Laotian to interpret. Miller, who has been with
\nthe department nearly 29 years, said he has never personally worked on a
\ncase with a deaf suspect.<\/p>\n

“A lot of what we do happens after 5 p.m.,” Miller said, saying time is
\noften of the essence. “To find a certified, official deaf interpreter at 2
\nin the morning would be difficult.”<\/p>\n

But after he was told that using a police officer who signs isn’t considered
\nthe best practice, Miller said he would talk with the district attorney’s
\noffice about the policy.<\/p>\n

In Irving, the Police Department spokesman, Officer John Argumaniz, said
\ninvestigators use certified ASL interpreters once someone becomes a suspect
\nbecause they don’t want a possible confession thrown out of court.<\/p>\n

Richardson police, whose investigation led to Brodie’s conviction, did not
\nrespond to inquiries about whether their policies have changed since his
\ninterrogation. The department has not admitted conducting any part of the
\ncase improperly, despite state District Judge Lena Levario’s ruling Monday
\nthat mistakes were made.<\/p>\n

‘Clown’ voice vs. ‘low’ voice
\nFor 20 years, authorities have said that the 5-year-old victim told them her
\nattacker spoke with a “clown” voice. Police and prosecutors have said the
\ngirl was describing how a deaf person speaks. But a recording of the
\ninterview shows the girl actually told police the man had a “low voice.”<\/p>\n

In addition to communication problems, after Brodie’s plea, Richardson
\npolice matched a fingerprint found on a window to someone who had pleaded
\nguilty to a similar crime and is suspected of being a serial rapist. But
\nRichardson police maintained that Brodie was guilty, according to testimony
\nat Brodie’s exoneration hearing.<\/p>\n

When another Richardson case led to an exoneration in 2008, partly because
\nof faulty eyewitness testimony, the department quickly changed how it
\nconducts photo lineups. But the police chief who made those changes has
\nsince retired.<\/p>\n

Brodie became a suspect in the 1990 sex case after he lost his hearing aid
\nat a Richardson pool while stealing quarters from a drink machine. Police
\nasking him about the theft also asked him about the child’s abduction and
\nsexual assault. He eventually pleaded guilty to the crime in 1993 and was
\nsentenced to five years in prison.<\/p>\n

Brodie, 39, said this week that his reason for falsely admitting guilt back
\nthen was simple.<\/p>\n

“I just got tired,” Brodie signed through an interpreter. “It was too much
\npressure.”<\/p>\n

Source:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/sharedcontent\/dws\/news\/localnews\/crime\/stories\/DN-deaflegal_02met.ART0.State.Edition1.335b6d5.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dallas County exoneration shows changes needed to deal fairly with the deaf, lawyers say October 2, 2010 By JENNIFER EMILY \/ The Dallas Morning News jemily@dallasnews.com There’s no doubt Stephen Matthew Brodie’s deafness contributed to his wrongful conviction nearly two…<\/p>\n

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On Monday,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12285,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2010\/11\/09\/buy-book-tested-about-12-exonerees-including-stephen-brodie-deaf\/","url_meta":{"origin":11904,"position":4},"title":"Buy Book “Tested” about 12 Exonerees including Stephen Brodie (Deaf)","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"November 9, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Buy Book \"Tested\" about 12 Exonerees including Stephen Brodie (Deaf) I would like to make announcement that i would like for all deaf community\u00a0to buy the book called TESTED. If you would like to order the book go on\u00a0http:\/\/www.TESTEDTHEBOOK.com and you will see the buy the book. My name is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/tested_Exonerees_Book.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":22945,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2013\/05\/01\/deaf-parents-charged-in-crying-babys-death-updated\/","url_meta":{"origin":11904,"position":5},"title":"Deaf parents charged in crying baby’s death – UPDATED","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"May 1, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0Deaf parents charged in crying baby's death by J. PANICKER and M. GOODMAN \/ WFAA khou.com May 1, 2013 RICHARDSON, Texas \u2014 Richardson police say the deaf father of a five-month-old girl who was beaten to death early Sunday morning has confessed to his role in the crime. 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