Prosecutor Appeals Ruling
ROCKVILLE, Md. — A highly charged case involving a Liberian native accused of repeatedly raping and molesting a 7-year-old girl took an interesting turn when a prosecutor said Monday that he is filing an appeal of a controversial judge's decision in the matter.
Montgomery County's Judge Katherince Savage ruled on July 17 that Mahamu Kanneh, a Liberian who received asylum in the U.S. and attended high school and community college here, was denied a speedy trial after three years awaiting a court-appointed interpreter who could speak the West African tribal language of Vai.
Linguists estimate that only 100,000 people speak Vai.
Savage called her decision to dismiss all charges one of the most difficult she's had to make in a long time, especially since she was aware of "the gravity of this case and the community's concern about offenses of this type."
Det. Omar Hasan wrote in the charging document that the victim "attempted to physically stop the behavior from the defendant, but was unsuccessful," the Washington Post reported. Kanneh threatened the young girl "with not being able to leave the apartment unless she engaged in sexual behavior with the defendant," Hasan wrote in his report.
McCarthy charged the delays cited in Savage's order to dismiss the "result of the court locating a qualified interpreter," and not the fault of the prosecutor.
"The fact is on four separate occasions this court provided Vai interpreters," McCarthy said, adding that one of the interpreters had agreed to participate in further proceedings.
Court records, meanwhile, show that an interpreter was "sworn" by a Maryland court on the same day Savage dismissed the case, FOXNews.com has learned.
Fox is also reporting that the defendant was actually able to converse in English with a reporter who interviewed him about this story.
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