The defense phase of the trial was far too short. Is this because the defense was not able to get the story from Daphne so they could present a defense properly?

Was it truly premediated or was it accidental; and Daphne is refusing to say anything other than to deny everything? That would render the defense unable to prevent a finding of murder in the first degree in favor of murder in the second degree which means unintentional murder.

It also opens the way for a future appeal to be presented on the basis of incomplete defense. Most people wouldn’t want that.

SChevy, very true. If Daffy is hearing white, beautiful, feminine woman, would she be facing a death penalty trial? I don’t think so, either.

BEG, bingo. That’s what S.F. folks don’t understand.

That would not be justice to Darlene. So those of us advocating for a properly done trial are doing so because a fairly conducted trial, during which all (reasonable) doubts are dispelled by a jury examining all the evidence (to which we do not necessarily have full access) will lay the issue to rest.

Imagine if the trial is a sham or mockery: then it is thrown out later even if Daphne is the one who murdered Darlene. That would be no justice whatsoever.

Perhaps most local deaf members of the SF community are mostly at work during the trial and are unable to attend.

And would you publicly associate yourself with a murderer? I think most of us would not want to and avoid a reputation as an associate of Daphne by staying away.

And from what some of those who know Daphne, it appears that she is a predatory personality. Preys on the weak. MZ, anyone who saws and dismembers a corpse is a sociopath. Sociopaths has no conscience. Perhaps those who know Daphne sense the sociopath in her and keep their distance. There will always be those who are naive and clueless who miss the cues that give hint to the sociopathic aspect of Daphne, to whom Daphne gravitate, exploit, and ultimately prey upon. It does seem that Daphne has the classical personality traits of a sociopath.

Just follow your guts when you encounter people like her. If your guts say to keep away, listen to it. Instincts can save your life.

Anyway, would getting black, deaf, woman and lesbian on the jury make a difference in the verdict? Based on the evidence, I would say no.

And the argument that Daphne would not be able to effectively defend herself thus taking off death penalty had no merit. Her actions show she knew what she was doing. It is up to her defense team to offer alibis and counter the evidence to put reasonable doubt into the prosecution’s case.

What is not fair about the trial, to me, is that there is no CDI. A regular intepreter could not possibly deliver in a way Daphne would be able to follow and understand, especially with the legal jargon and proceedings. It would be a fair trial if they put a CDI there. She is given the right by the US Constitution to defend herself, and she is better able to if there is a CDI present.

I wonder if South Dakota is behind with the times? Are their legal laws up to date? Have the legal system in SD been introduced to CDI? I understand some states have not been introduced to CDI, and SD may be one of those states, even with CSD right there.

Ricky, please show some compassion. Many of Darlene’s friends read this blog and we need to be sensitive to their feelings. I hope they will contact me so I can show an article who Darlene is. She was very sweet and well-liked by the S.F. community.

Water, I did contact NAACP two weeks ago who told me they will investigate. But apparently they were satisfied, not knowing that there is any differences between the hearing interpreters and deaf interpreters. So I contacted the reporters who were receptive to our concerns.

You knew Jeff Dahmer humped the dead bodies. And you HAD to bring it up!

As for Darlene, she’s dead. Move on already. I dont know who she is. But trial is not about Darlene, it is about Daphne and wha the precedent may taken in this shall impact us in the long run.

R-

Anyway, I hope there will be books written about this trial, hopefully with a good perspective, not where deaf people are perceived to be mentally disabled as that will be very damaging and misleading.

Elizabeth do you know if there is true crime writers in the court because if there are some, they need to make sure that they don’t portray or generalize deaf people as being mentally disabled and that they need to incorporate our deaf culture, sign language and all that important information in the book to make it well-balanced.