It was trial by instant message in Northampton County Court on Jan. 28 -- until, that is, the judge decided the experiment had failed and declared a mistrial.
With prosecutors' main witness, the accuser, deaf and a sign-language interpreter unavailable, a jury was forced to endure typed questions and answers in the trial of a man accused of assaulting the Easton woman, then breaking into her apartment a week later.
The ad hoc approach to Jennifer Davis' testimony brought protests from Iman R. Sharif's defense attorney and included more than a few strange occurrences: sentences that seemingly made no sense, and at one point a mistaken foray into an e-mail program after Davis accidentally opened it while answering a question.
It also brought concerns from an advocate for the deaf community, who said a trial involving a deaf person shouldn't have gone forward without an interpreter.
Shortly after Davis returned to the stand after lunch, Judge Stephen Baratta sent out the jury and stated the obvious: Testimony by instant message wasn't working.
''It's just going to be a mistrial, if not me then by the Superior Court,'' Baratta said.
Sharif, 36, of East Orange, N.J., faces charges including burglary, stalking, and simple.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Mistrial declared after judge allows deaf witness to IM testimony
From The Morning Call in Allentown, Pa.:
