Good grief
January 14th, 2006From a pointer at Transblawg I came across this rather astonishing article:
Daytona Beach News-Journal Online
DAYTONA BEACH — Unable to speak English, Juan Ramon Alfonzo stood before a judge and expected to receive probation for stealing a toolbox. To his surprise, the judge sentenced him to 15 years in prison, followed by 15 years of probation, for stealing a dump truck valued at $125,000. Now, court officials agree Alfonzo entered the wrong plea because his court-hired interpreter, Marianne Verruno, provided an incomprehensible translation. Two weeks ago, a circuit judge tossed out his plea and sentencing to allow Alfonzo to start the court process over. “Ms. Verruno is far from being fluent in Spanish,” an expert interpreter wrote in a report to the judge. “She may be conversant enough for social situations but her Spanish is not minimally adequate to interpret in a court of law.”
Words fail me.
But words jailed him. Almost.
Good grief.