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Kosmes and two friends, Keoma Este and Taweimwar Ruben, were arrested in Saline County Sunday, March 7, and held at Saline County Justice Facility, charged with class A misdemeanor possession of marijuana. A third friend, Alex Terno, was charged with class C felony forgery because he initially gave officers a false name.
All four men appeared in court Wednesday before Judge James T. "Tut" Bellamy.
Este, Ruben and Terno speak virtually no English. All the men are originally from Micronesia; their native language is Truk, and Truk, or Chuukese, as it is sometimes called, is one of the world's rarest languages. According to Summer Institute of Linguistics, the number of Truk speakers stands at about 3,000 people.
Kosmes, with the ability to speak Truk and English, willingly assisted the men and the court throughout the proceedings Wednesday.
Este and Ruben pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 10 days in jail, subject to time served. Terno's case was continued to April 28.
When it was Kosmes' turn at the bench, Saline County Prosecuting Attorney Donald G. Stouffer said he would dismiss the charges, citing Kosmes' "services to the court." Stouffer said later that the young man's generosity in translating for the other three men had saved the court "thousands of dollars."
Related story:
Four arrested on drug charges:
www.marshallnews.com/story/1616838.html
Contact Kathy Fairchild at marshallhealth@socket.net
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The Judge with all due respect, made a huge, incompetent mistake! Yes, he needs to learn to Google, find a qualified interpreter, wherever he or she may be; and under no circumstances- should a co-defendant serve as a court interpreter in a case where he or she is implicated. Whether its a misdemeanor or not, that is irrelevant. IT IS A COURT OF LAW! AND JUSTICE WAS NOT SERVED FOR ALL, THERE WAS A DIFFERENT STANDARD FOR THOSE WHO DID NOT SPEAK ENGLISH, AND THAT IS CALLED DISCRIMINATION BASED ON NATIONAL ORIGIN... THAT IS HOW IT IS DEFINED BY LAW.
If there is a qualified court interpreter, they should be given preference ONLY IF, a certified interpreter is NOT available. But NEVER, EVER -- should the court use an "implicated party" to serve as interpreter, for the others in the case!! That is totally against the canons or ethics and Court Rules, it is a clear conflict of interest, not just apparent but blatant conflict of interest. Lay people may not see it, but the Court Interpreters ARE Court-Personnel, linguistic experts, and cannot be just some bilingual bimbo from the Mexican bar-and-grill. But a Judge is in the bench should KNOW BETTER! It calls for the case to be retried and the judge should be reprimanded not commended! Due process, meaningful access, and judicial incompetence, are ONLY a few of the issues he did not address.
In this day and age, if a Qualified Court Interpreter is not available locally, they can travel or simply be available via WEB-CONFERENCE (very easily) that is neither cost-prohibitive, or outrageously complicated, nor a technological extraordinary measure. In fact it can be done for free over the internet, call CISCO, they will give you a free month of service, to try it out!!
Phone interpreting is the worse, and a very poor alternative, since 80% of communication is non-verbal- Judicial Court personnel should, and must know these basics. AND NO MATTER HOW WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY DEFINES IT,
INTERPRETERS ARE NOT THE SAME AS TRANSLATORS. Interpreters, transfer language meaning ORALLY, Translators transfer language meaning in written document FORM.
But EVEN PHONE INTERPRETING would have been a better option, than to have a co-defendant take the role of a court interpreter, and then to give them a preferential sentence for his efforts. That is totally inappropriate.
Look at the outcome of that young girl in Italy, in the murder case of her roommate, who went to court without an interpreter. Think of the case of the missionaries from the USA in Haiti, with some incompetent interpreters, the results without proper communication, and the problems they had to face, until they got accurate interpreters, were diametrically different, and can be catastrophic. And the outcome of the poor communication may not be evident right away, when facing legal matter in a foreign court are issues that must be faced by Americans in foreign lands, and foreigners in our country. There is a protocol, and judges should not be held as Hero for not using professional standards.
There are more Americans going to foreign countries and we can't just act like bigots and expect everyone to speak English or go home! Courts should not give preferential treatment to those who speak English. Our country is going through a very unbecoming era of dislike for those who don't speak the same language. The reality of this attitude; is a mask for discrimination based on National Origin. Yes, that is the DEFINITION, whether or not we want to hear, it it is the TRUE. The attitude that everyone who doesn't speak English should get out of here, is as stupid, as it is arrogant, it is a discriminative attitude. Let's be very careful how we dispense justice, of we may end up being measured with the same yard stick. It may be your child or mine who has the chance to travel and see the world, or has the opportunity to go to work in a foreign land, and I pray that they will treat your child and mine, with more respect and justice, if they were to have to face a foreign court.
Respectfully,
Licensed Certified Court Interpreter
Masters Level in Consecutive and Sight Translation
If they cant speak english send them back all they do is soak up our money. they cant work they cant do anything without being a burden go home or learn english
mama11, you might want to read some of the comments posted before yours. There ARE court-certified translators, but not in this language.
The state of Missouri does not have a test to certify speakers of this particular language. Therefore there are no certified translators for this language. If the court had not accepted Kosmes' services, all four men would have had to spend a very long period of time in jail, for a misdemeanor, while the court system paid to have the test constructed and found someone willing to take the test and be certified. I don't know what it costs to house a prisoner in the county jail, but in prison, it's $45 or so dollars a day.
Say it takes a year to go through the process of making the test and getting someone certified - just keeping them in jail for a year (all four of them) runs more than $65,000. Then add in the cost of constructing the test, paying the translator, etc., etc., and factor in the time spent prosecuting the case...how much do you really want to pay to prosecute four misdemeanors, for which three of the four men in this story got a 10-day sentence?
We need to have translators that are paid for by the court and verified to be accurate. No one should have drug charges dropped because they helped the court; everyone should be responsible for restitution if they break a rule. Could the verdicts regarding the other subjects be overturned by a higher court because the accuracy of the translation was inadequate??? How would we know if an accurate translation was provided??? We can not choose what laws/rules we follow nor should we expect/tolerte others choosing what laws/rules they follow. Into the 21st century Saline County!
Just think, if we were to subdue the hysteria surrounding marijuana and just legalize it already, this would not have even been an issue in the first place.
No idea if they were traveling or visiting. There is no statue delaring that those who travel or reside in the US must be able to comunicate in English. I don't see a reason in forcing that on anyone. If I wanted to retire in a country with a native tongue foreign from my own, I don't think it'd be right for them to require me to learn. I'm trying to point to a double standard we Americans might apply, given reversed roles.
The degree or severity of the crime doesn't really matter. If the person was jaywalking, is it less irritating that he/she can pay a $15 fine and be on their merry way, and still not know English? I suggested a traffic accident in Italy becuase I won't be caught with illegal drugs there (or anywhere). What if I was speeding because I was enjoying my jazzy little rental car? And then I go to court? As an English-speaking American, I'd feel lucky that my native tongue might be managable to them. But, I wouldn't be too surprised if I was picked up by small-town gestapo and wasn't able to find any translator and got stuck in jail for a while, despite unfair representation. (I just hope my plane tickets, if visiting, are refundable! ha ha)
At any rate, I understand the perspective, but I'm going to agree with the devil's advocate here. No laws require knowledge of the language. But again, someone was there who could translate. And to the tune of it saving the county the hassle and costs, that's fine. Perhaps better this way than releasing them all due to lack of capability on the county's part. Was the translator honest? Who knows, but who's going to refute it? Two guys are going to serve time, another will be back in court. Perhaps now is the time to advodate for a certified translator for that court date.
While I understand the opping views, I just don't think it's the right fight. The prosecutors followed protocal, it appears, and the helpful criminal was granted a break. Lucky him. Lucky county. Lucky Americans. Maybe we can at least stock a Truk-English dictionary in the facility now, huh? Just joking... Thanks for sharing/clarifying your views, though!
Micro-Amer: I did not say this is not the appropriate venue for discussion of this topic. I suggested that if you want to assist these men, and that is what you seemed to want, then there are better places to do that.
Kosmes was not merely a bystander in the court who was enlisted for his language skills. He was a friend of the other three, and was himself involved in the case. Clearly, they trusted him to do this work. I was present in the courtroom and saw no evidence that they didn't understand what was happening or that they were forced by anyone to accept Kosmes as their translator. Perhaps I didn't make it clear enough in the story that this was the case.
In answer to your question, I'll say that given the same circumstances, I would trust a friend to do what Kosmes did.
Micro-Amer -
It seems to me that if the Kosmes was providing accurate translation of the proceedings, the defendants would also have had to agree to allow him to continue to translate...if they did, they received a fair hearing.
Perhaps you are right that the comments portion of an online newspaper is not the right venue for discussion about issues and dissemination of information. It would just seem we should be able recognize the rights we stood for when America fought WWII in Micronesia and then held the islands as territories for 40 years. If YOU were in Micronesia (because many Americans live and work there) would you believe that you had received a fair court proceeding given the same circumstances.
Micro-Amer: If you have an issue on this case that you want to pursue, please take the appropriate action in the appropriate venue. My research could certainly be wrong on the number of speakers of this language, but even so, it's highly unlikely that there are many who speak Truk in this state. Even if there are 10,000 or 20,000 or even a million, NONE of them are certified to interpret or translate in this state, not least because there is no test for certification in this state for that language.
If you think the rights of these men were violated, the course of action for you is not to post your comments here, but to bring them to the attention of someone who can actually do something about it.
And for clarification, I have used "interpret" and "translate" as interchangeable words, which, according to Webster's, they are.
Please confirm a few facts: 1-The state of Chuuk has at least 45,000 people, and there are at least 15,000 Chuukese living in the USA (including Guam) so how can that add up to 3,000 speakers?
Mr. Owl -- the whole court process does not need to be done in person. Other courts do this by phone, and bring in the interpreter if it goes to trial.
I'm confused. Was Kosmes interpreting or translating? Either way it seems like a qualified interpreter is better than what happened in this case. The defendants had their rights to due process violated.
Micro Amer: Do you think the translator in the State of Washington would have been willing to travel to Marshall and translate for this case, all at no charge to the County? I doubt it! Mr. Stouffer made the right call here and should be commended for saving Saline County a ton of money.
Micro-Amer - Kosmes *volunteered* to do the translation. A translator in Washington State doesn't do any good if he or she is not certified to translate in Missouri, and as I posted earlier, there is no option to certify that language in Missouri at this time.
Years ago my brother became friends with some men from the Truk islands. They had come here to attend MVC and came to be part of our family. They taught us some of their language and they were some of the most loyal friends anyone could make. They had a different value for their elders and their culture was very interesting. When it came to their language it was very different from anything we had ever heard, so I believe it would be very difficult to find a translator for them.
This smells like conflict of interest. How can a court of law ask a defendant to interpret for another defendant? Why didn't the court use a qualified interpreter? And yes, there is one. I did a quick Google search and found a Micronesian, Trukese (Chuukese) interpreter in Wash St. Why couldn't the court personnel do the same?
Scarpetta -
However, we do have a long history in this country of enclaves where you don't HAVE to learn to speak English - Little Italy, Chinatown, etc. Plenty of generations came to the U.S. and didn't necessarily learn how to speak English. I'm not suggesting that this is a good practice, however, certainly it is something that has been occurring since the founding of our nation. It's part of the reason we're calling a Melting Pot.
somewhere out there,
In all fairness, what you speak of is traveling or visiting. Were these men just visiting? Maybe...maybe not. Not to mention a traffic accident is just that...an accident. Not a possession charge of an illegal drug.
What I believe notgvnasht is referencing, those who live and work in this country...not just visiting.
notgvnasht -
Just because they don't speak English, don't assume that they don't care to. We have a very difficult, idiomatic language to learn, and they simply may not have been here long enough to learn it and understand it.
Justice was served. Good for Mr Stouffer.
Oops...old age creepin' in again. Fixed, thank you.
Someone in the group could translate, could speak English. I think that's pretty darn good, as far as learning the common language of a hosting country. We, as Americans, are lucky: the places we aspire to reach or visit, to a vast degree, are accomodating with our (most common) native language. We don't worry about learning Italian or proper Spanish when traveling to those respective countries, yet we still visit. I'm sure the natives of other countries decry our inability to represent ourselves with their native languages, just as we do; but how would an American feel if he/she was huddled to a corner simply because he/she doesn't speak Italian/Spanish/French/etc... Anywho, my main point is that someone was there who could translate. I think that would be enough to satisfy me if I had a vehicle accident in Roma!
Cheers for the kindness toward the helpful criminal. Kathy, multiple spellings for the Terno/Treno person's last name...
Hats off to Mr. Stouffer for making the right call on this one!
If we don't provide translation for offenders, and they don't understand the charges, etc., we can't put them in jail or make them pay a fine, simple as that.
how about learning to speak English this is crap we have to translate for others who dont care to learn the language.
Wow. That was a very nice thing for both the young man & the prosecutor to do!
That said, I hope he learns from the experience and stays away from marijuana in the future - he's not likely to get off this easy a second time! Maybe he needs to look into a future as a court translator!
Certification is offered for about a dozen languages in the Missouri court system, but right now, there are certified translators only for Spanish, Mandarin Chinese and Russian. There are roughly 30 to 35 translators for the entire state.
Other languages for which certification is available, but for which there are currently no certified interpreters are Arabic, French, Greek, Haitian Creole, Italian, Korean, Polish, Portugese and Vietnamese.
Point taken
I doubt our translator can speak Truk....
Seriously?? I thought we had a translator for court.