Court runs into sign language problem with murder accused

A deaf mute murder accused and a Court-appointed interpreter got their signs all mixed up yesterday. As a result, a guilty plea which was recorded, as coming from the accused, had to be rescinded because of a misunderstanding in communication.

The misinterpretation had to do with deaf mute Bharath Mansingh, who is before Justice Melville Baird in the Port-of-Spain First Criminal Court, charged with the murder of his 24-year-old brother Mukesh Mansingh on November 27, 1999 at their home on St John’s Road, St Augustine. When the matter was called yesterday, and the Court arraigned Bharath, asking him whether he was guilty or not, the Court-appointed interpreter Anna Chee Ying apparently misread his response, and said he had pleaded guilty.  However, Bharath’s attorney Ulric Skerritt said it could not be so, and after consulting with the defence interpreter Paulson Skerret, it was discovered that Bharath had not understood Chee Ying’s sign language.

Attorney Skerritt  went on to explain to the Court that the sign language Chee Ying was using was “perfect” English sign language, a technique of spelling out the words, which was not familiar to Bharath. The accused he said, uses a combination of the local and the American Sign Language techniques to communicate. Paulson, who was recommended to the defence team by the Trinidad and Tobago Association for the Hearing Impaired (TTAHI), understands both local and English sign languages.

In light of the misunderstanding, Justice Baird revoked the guilty plea. It was also agreed that the Court would have to revoke the appointment of Chee Ying, who has taught English sign language at NIHERST and DRETCHI, and find another interpreter who understands the accused’s technique of sign language.  For the moment, the Court considered using Paulson, but then noted that he was already working with the defence. Bharath is being represented by attorneys Israel Khan SC, Dana Seetahal and Ulric Skerritt, instructed by Nadia Astraph, while Althea Alexis is prosecuting. Hearing was adjourned to today, by which time the Court is expected to find a suitable interpreter from the TTAHI.