Maryland Court Reverses Deaf Sex Conviction

WATCH: Deaf News: Court reverses conviction of man accused of sexual abuse at Maryland School for the Deaf.

FREDERICK, MD -- The state's second-highest court reversed the conviction of a Deaf man accused of sexually abusing two girls at the Maryland School for the Deaf because he wasn't able to question the interpreter's translation of his responses during a police interrogation.

The Court of Special Appeals said Clarence Cepheus Taylor III, 40, was denied his constitutional right to confront and cross-examine the interpreter during his trial in Howard County Circuit Court in November 2013, the opinion said. Taylor said an interpreter who translated during his five-hour interrogation with a Howard County police detective had incorrectly interpreted his sign-language statements.

"It becomes kind of a game of telephone. A lot can be lost in those steps," said Taylor's attorney, Brandon Mead. He said Taylor's family has suffered, and his client has maintained his innocence.

Howard County state's attorney's office spokesman T. Wayne Kirwan said the office intends to appeal.

Taylor, who worked as a school aide, was sentenced to seven years in February 2014 after being found guilty of sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl and a 12-year-old girl at the Columbia campus.

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Courtroom Sign Language Prohibited Raise Concerns

Maryland courtroom sign language restrictions raise concerns, only the official interpreters and trial participants are allowed to use ASL.

FREDERICK, MD -- A judge in the trial of a Deaf man is prohibiting signing among the audience, a move that has raised concerns among some in the Deaf community.

Clarence Taylor III, who is Deaf, is accused of inappropriately touching Maryland School for the Deaf students when he was a student life counselor and dormitory aide at the school's Columbia campus. MSD also has a campus in Frederick.

Judge William Tucker of Howard County Circuit Court prohibited signs and "facial gestures" among spectators at Taylor's trial, according to a report from Capital News Service.

Only the four official courtroom interpreters and trial participants communicating with them will be allowed to sign and gesture in the courtroom.

Some advocates for the Deaf took issue with the way the decision singled out American Sign Language.

Howard A. Rosenblum, CEO of the National Association of the Deaf, said in a statement that the NAD understands the need to preserve order in the courtroom, but any restriction on communication needs to be applied evenly in any language to all spectators.

"The judge's order in this case appears to impose restrictions solely on Deaf and Hard of Hearing spectators and is unacceptable," he said.

David Martin, an assistant professor who manages ASL studies at Frederick Community College, is an MSD alumnus and has been following the trial.

He said that it would be difficult for a Deaf person to avoid making gestures.

“From my perspective, you know, with a Deaf person, It's going to be a challenge for a Deaf person to have no expressions and no signing,” Martin said through an ASL interpreter.

Still, Martin said the judge's decision was fair as long as hearing people were subject to the same restrictions... Read The Full Story.

Related:
Verdict In Maryland Deaf School Sex Abuse Case
Maryland School For The Deaf Abuse Sex Case
Courtroom Sign Language Prohibited Raise Concerns
Deaf Aide Teacher Charged With Sexual Abuse
Maryland Court Reverses Deaf Sex Conviction