Defendant with no language proves difficult to prosecute
January 11, 2011|By Jeremy Roebuck, Inquirer Staff Writer

With a flick of his wrist, the interpreter at the front of the courtroom mimed the bang of a judge's gavel, his other hand pointing to the ceiling.

The crude gestures were meant to convey that the case against Juan Jose Gonzalez Luna would be heard in a higher-level court.

Gonzalez's face, however, remained vacant.

Did the 42-year-old - who is deaf, mute, and illiterate, including no known knowledge of sign language - understand what had just happened?

As Gonzalez has next to no language skills, his case has baffled Montgomery County courts since his arrest on drug trafficking charges late last year. While courts have come a long way in providing access to interpreters in a host of exotic languages, no one is sure how to translate for a man who knows no language at all.

http://articles.philly.com/2011-01-11/n ... rafficking

I hope this wasn't posted already, it's like the Autobahn around here sometimes!