Comments on: vclip: Wright Trial: Video Interrogation

By: Watchful Eyes

Watchful Eyes — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 14:48:45 +0000

I think a CDI should be at present to serve the role as a monitor interpreter. By this defintion, the CDI will watch both Daphne and the hearing interpreter to ensure the information is being faciliated correctly.

I noticed one part where Daphne repeated twice of the location where she met with the victim. She signed Pizza Hut twice. I wondered if it is because the hearing interpreter missed it. Or the police asked the question again. Only if we could see the hearing interpreter signing on the video.

I agree with #15– I noticed a lot of mouth movement, which indicated nervousness. Although, her body language and signing skills showed that she is a typical grassroot deaf person with perhaps high school education only.

Does anyone know the names of all interpreters involved in this court trial?

By: Mishka Zena

Mishka Zena — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 22:15:12 +0000

Same here Dianrez. I couldn’t tell much here, either.

However, Deaf people who know her personally alerted me that she won’t understand the legal proceeding with CDI. If not for them, I wouldn’t have given it another thought.

By: Dianrez

Dianrez — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 18:41:43 +0000

The sample was really not enough for me to evaluate, but the impression I get is that she understands and answers questions without need to repeat.

Whether the answers are appropriate to the questions or off the point, I could not tell without seeing the interpreter as well.

Daphne seems to be alert and responsive, and is aware of the situation. Her mouth movements indicate some emotion.

She talked about “two men” in a couple of scenes, which was not captioned nor was in the reported court record of the interrogation. Did the interpreter understand this?

Her short answers give me the feeling that a Deaf interpreter might have helped the interrogation greatly, either for her presumed innocence or for building a more solid case for her guilt.

By: Carl Schroeder

Carl Schroeder — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 23:19:56 +0000

I would like to comment that, in my personal and professional opinion, interpreting services for the Deaf are so erratic to the core that RID, NAD, and GIS (Gallaudet Interpreting Services) are unable to articulate and facilitate language interpreting strategies. Deaf people need interpreters because it is a language matter; they need translation between source language, be it ASL or English, and target language, be it different from the source language. However, these interpreting agencies are built on a notion that ASL as a visual, spatial language and English as a spoken, linear language can miraculously be conveyed “imbricately,” and they are now explaining away their souls about time gaps and lags–something we the Deaf are generally reluctant. We are never sure their work, and we are never told how well they have done.

What we need to educate our society is that Daphne Wright needs ASL-English interpreters, not CI interpreters or CID inerpreters or both.

Just some thoughts for you!

By: Diane

Diane — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 15:15:23 +0000

Watch for her mouth movement. Seems to be nervous. Gee I watched over over again. I think I am getting into this stuff now. I’ll hush. Smile

By: Mishka Zena

Mishka Zena — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 13:09:20 +0000

IamMine, I switched the original videoclip with the one dated last Sept because the Sept vclip is 8 mins long. that one doesn’t have captions. The other clip you saw was moved to the bottom of the article.

I think I need to rephrase the question. I didn’t mean by understanding the simple questions the detective used during the interrogation. My question is, by watching her simple signs she uses, can she follow the arguments of a death penalty trial with advanced vocabulary, including complicated legal terms used by lawyers, detectives, and the experts?

By: IamMine

IamMine — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 12:09:19 +0000

Good observation, michele.

When she said she was scared, I didn’t see that at all.

It’s hard to explain how to describe the interview.

It was clear to me from looking at HER, she understood what was being said.

Just look at the captioned questions and she did respond accordingly.

Why do you need to look at the interpreter for that?

If she didn’t answer correctly, then it’s assumed either she didn’t understand or the interpreter made a mistake.

By: Casper

Casper — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 04:17:25 +0000

Check this blog and it will update by the hour. Chuck Baldwin (Probably works for the local newspaper) is keeping us inform with what is happening in the courtroom. By the way he has a good sense of humor. http://blogs.argusleadermedia.com/voices/

By: michele

michele — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 03:32:34 +0000

It was very hard to see the interpreter so its difficult to say if Daphne was able to follow the line of questioning. She seemed relaxed and not scared so that bothered me about her body language – she acted as if the whole thing was waste of time.

By: Mishka Zena

Mishka Zena — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 02:47:17 +0000

G. The links have been repaired. Thanks for letting me know