Deaf Fugitive Homicide Suspect Denied Bail

Mavrick William Fisher, 21, of Elko, Nevada, is charged with the murder of Grant David Whitaker, 25, of Mackinaw, Illinois.

LAKEPORT, California -- A man who authorities said bludgeoned his traveling companion to death at a Humboldt County campground before dumping the body in Lake County has made his first appearance in Lake County Superior Court.

Mavrick William Fisher, 21, who has connections to both Elko, Nevada, and Riverside, was arraigned on Friday afternoon in Judge J. David Markham’s courtroom in Lakeport. Fisher is charged with the murder of 25-year-old Grant David Whitaker, of Mackinaw, Illinois, during an altercation that investigators say occurred in Humboldt County.

The Daily Moth is a radio show, delivers news in video using American Sign Language. The Deaf host, Alex Abenchuchan, covers the story of Mavrick Fisher’s first court appearance in murder case in Lakeport, California.

The two men, both of them Deaf, were reported to be traveling cross country together to California when a disagreement occurred, leading to the fatal confrontation, according to District Attorney Susan Krones.

Read More: Deaf Illinois Man's Remains Found In California

Authorities say Fisher later brought the body to Lake County, where it was discovered on Monday near Upper Lake, as Lake County News has reported.

Earlier this week, Fisher was taken into custody by authorities in Rosarito, Mexico, where he fled after Whitaker’s murder. They assisted with getting him back to the United States, and he was booked into the Lake County jail on Wednesday afternoon.

Krones, who appeared in court to handle the case on Friday, has charged Fisher with murder; assault with a deadly weapon, with the weapon in this case being a rock, and a special allegation of inflicting great bodily injury; willfully and maliciously removing and keeping possession of the 2011 Chevrolet Impala that Whitaker had been driving and which was on loan from his grandmother in Illinois; and unlawfully taking the car after the murder.

While the murder is believed to have occurred at Richardson Grove State Park in Humboldt County, Krones told Lake County News that Lake County has jurisdiction over the case because Whitaker’s body was located here.

She cited California Penal Code section 790, which gives jurisdiction for a murder or manslaughter case to “the county where the fatal injury was inflicted or in the county in which the injured party died or in the county in which his body was found.”

Read More: Mavrick Fisher's Mental Disorder To Homicide

Krones said she has spoken to Humboldt County District Attorney Maggie Fleming, who has asked Krones to handle the case in Lake County. At the same time, both Lake County and Humboldt County investigators are working the case. On Friday, the court assigned Tom Feimer, a defense attorney with the county’s indigent defense contract, to represent Fisher.

Fisher, wearing a jail jumpsuit and sitting in the jury box along with several other individuals awaiting arraignment, also was provided the assistance of an interpreter at Friday’s court appearance.

Read More: Deaf Homicide Mavrick Fisher Pleads Not Guilty

Outside the courtroom, two women – one older, one younger with a baby – were waving and gesturing at Fisher and holding up the baby so it could be seen through the courtroom door window. A bailiff who admitted them to the courtroom warned them against trying to communicate with Fisher, a normal admonishment for family members in attendance at court proceedings. Read The Full Story.

SOURCE - Lake County News

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Related Deaf News:
Deaf Man Commits Brutal Murder in America: ISH News
Mavrick Fisher’s First Court Appearance in Murder Case: The Daily Moth
Autopsy Reveals Cause of Deaf Man’s Death: Sign1News
Mavrick Fisher Pleads Not Guilty To Murder: The Daily Moth
Deaf Man Pleads Not Guilty in Grant Whitaker Death: SignNews

Controversy on Social Media Platform in Deaf Community:
Grant Whitaker/Maverick Fisher: “Mental Disorders & Exorcist”
Mav Martin Fisher/Grant Whitaker: Can We Understand Stigma?
Deaf Counseling Center: Grant Whitaker and Maverick Fisher
Ridor9th - You Did It All
Wesley Arey - Show Some Respect

Related Mavrick Fisher & Grant Whitaker:
Deaf Illinois Man's Remains Found In California
Mavrick Fisher's Mental Disorder To Homicide
Deaf Fugitive Homicide Suspect Denied Bail
Deaf Homicide Mavrick Fisher Pleads Not Guilty
Mavrick Fisher's Preliminary Hearing For Murder

Related Posts: #DeafNews - #DeafCrime - #DeafVictims - #MurderSuspect

UK Man Tried To Rape Deaf-Blind Grandmother

A burglar man, 25, who tried to rape Deaf and Blind 94-year-old grandmother after breaking into her home is caged for 14 years.

GRANTHAM, UK -- The Sun: A burglar who was caught in the act of trying to rape a Deaf-Blind 94-year-old woman has been jailed for 14 years.

Gregory Willis, 25, forced his way into the house where his victim was living out her final months with relatives - who found the sicko kneeling on her bed with no trousers on.

The great-grandmother, who was so frail she was unable to communicate, was naked from the waist down after Willis had pulled down her pyjamas and bedclothes.

She was only spared an even worse ordeal after members of her family discovered the front door open and went to investigate.

They checked on the victim and were horrified to discover Willis on her bed in Grantham, Lincs, last August.

Judge John Pini QC said as he sent dad-of-five Willis to jail: “The circumstances of this case are as deeply shocking, horrifying and appalling as could possibly be imagined.

“The victim is 94 years of age. She had not long before this left a nursing home to be cared for in a safe, loving environment for the remaining time of her life.

“She was registered blind, hard of hearing, had no short term memory, had poor balance and was doubly incontinent. She could not communicate.

“She was as frail and vulnerable as it is possible to be.”

The victim died four months after the break-in but a jury heard her death was not connected to the attempted rape.

Jonathan Straw, prosecuting, said it happened at a get together of relatives including the victim’s granddaughter and great grandchildren.

He said the old lady was asleep in her room while other family members chatted in a back room.

He told Lincoln crown court: “There came a point when they noticed that the front door to the house was open. Immediately they were concerned.

“They went into the living room and there they saw this defendant in the room. His trousers were removed. He had his boxer shorts on and his penis exposed.

“The victim was in bed, The covers had been pulled back and her pyjama bottoms had been pulled off.

“Had he not been disturbed, as mercifully he was, he was going to rape that 94-year-old lady in that bed.”

Willis was ordered out of the house but soon afterwards returned and knocked on the door saying something about visiting his aunt’s home.

The family called police and Willis was detained nearby. He had the key to the family’s car on him.

Willis denied attempted rape but was found guilty by the jury. He had earlier admitted burglary.

He said although he had no memory of what happened he would never have committed such an horrific offence.

Mark Watson, mitigating, said Willis apologised to the victim and her family for what he did.

He said: “He was plainly under the influence of something.

“There is nothing about the offence that he can remember. It may be due to alcohol but it may be that he is unable to bring himself to believe what happened.”

After the case, the victim’s son-in-law said the family now wanted to try to put the “horrific episode” behind them.

He said: “She was a very frail person asleep in bed who had already entered the end of life phase.

“We don’t know how much of what happened registered with her - we deliberately didn’t raise it with her afterwards and we just have to hope she didn’t suffer in any way.”

He added: “I was the only adult male in the house at the time and when I confronted him the adrenaline took over and I didn’t initially appreciate what was happening.

“Thankfully he ran away without becoming violent and it was only later that the gravity of what he was about to do hit me.”

SOURCE - The Sun

Deaf Scottish Businessman Jailed For Fraud

Deaf News: A Deaf Scottish businessman jailed for defrauding taxpayers.

FALKIRK, UK -- Falkirk Herald‎: An award-winning Deaf businessman was jailed for 20 months after admitting he used his business to defraud £80,000 from taxpayers.

Andrew Thomson, who was born profoundly Deaf, was described as a “highly-culpable” fraudster by Sheriff William Gilchrist at Stirling Sheriff Court yesterday for using his company to fraudulently claim the cash.

The 51-year-old admitted using Sign-now to milk a government scheme intended to help the disabled into employment and channel tens of thousands of pounds through another company for the Deaf, run by his Deaf wife, into his own pocket.

He pleaded guilty to defrauding the so-called Access to Work Scheme between January and November 2011, before an anonymous tip-off alerted the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), who investigated the claim.

Defence advocate David Nicolson said it had got into financial difficulty when software designed by Thomson was mimicked by others and his clients no longer needed his services.

He said since the fraud came to light Thomson had been ostracised, isolated and shunned in the Deaf world. Sign-now closed in 2012 and The Interpreting Agency went the same way.

The court heard Thomson claimed he needed six hours a day of interpreting assistance and two hours a day translation to assist him with correspondence and making and taking phone calls.

Freelance British Sign Language interpreters, charged out at £44 an hour, were employed under the Access To Work Scheme through the Interpreting Agency Ltd, run by Thomson’s wife, Caroline Thomson (52).

The Interpreting Agency Ltd submitted invoices in support of Thomson’s claims which were paid by DWP into a bank account in the name of The Interpreting Agency Ltd. The court heard that Thomson himself was a signatory of this bank account.

Sarah Lumsden, the depute fiscal, said there weren’t enough British Sign Language interpreters “physically available” to cover the number of hours claimed. His wife’s plea of not guilty to involvement was accepted.

Mr Thomson won the Stelios Award for Disabled Entrepreneurs – the UK’s top accolade for disabled people - in 2008 for his work in establishing Sign-now.com, providing video conferencing for the Deaf.

Thomson’s company, whose clients had included the NHS, a charity for the deaf and Falkirk Council, was described as “a web-based means of enabling Deaf people to communicate with the hearing world”.

He received his 2008 award from easyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannau who said that Thomson had demonstrated “drive, creativity and determination”.

During the DWP investigation the Thomsons’ home in New Carron, Falkirk, Sign-now’s offices in Grangemouth and the Interpreting Agency’s offices in Blythswood Square, Glasgow, were searched.

Diaries and invoices were seized and the freelance British Sign Language interpreters used by the Interpreting Agency Ltd were questioned.

The couple had originally been charged with a four-year scam to defraud taxpayers of nearly £250,000 by submitting bogus claims stretching back to 2008 – the year Thomson collected the Stelios Award.

Jailing Thomson for 20 months, Sheriff Gilchrist referred to judges’ guidelines for dealing with welfare scams, though he said the Access to Work Scheme was actually a grant.

Addressing Thomson though a sign language interpreter, he said: “If I had been applying the guidelines for benefit fraud, I would have assessed culpability here as being medium, on the basis that the claim was not fraudulent from the start, although there were elements of high culpability, in that there was an abuse of trust and responsibility and the fraud required planning and was not unsophisticated.

“The amount defrauded was substantial – £80,000 – and this amount was defrauded in the context of the accused and his company already receiving generous financial support from the taxpayer.

“In the circumstances I am satisfied that a custodial sentence is the only appropriate sentence.”

Thomson’s Deaf wife, who like him uses signing rather than oral language, let out a guttural scream when the sentence was announced and shook her fist at the sheriff

One of the couple’s two sons, who are not Deaf, banged the seats and wall of the court and shouted obscenities before being ushered out by a police officer.

Thomson was then led to the cells in handcuffs.

A confiscation hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act has been set for June 22.

When collecting his £50,000 Stelios Award, Thomson said Sign-now.com was “all about gaining the confidence of our clients and the trust and support of the interpreters we employ”.

The awards are a partnership between Sir Stelios’s Philanthropic Foundation and the Leonard Cheshire disability charity.

SOURCE - FalkirkHerald

Deaf NFL Derrick Coleman Arrested For Hit & Run

Raw footage of the inspirational Seahawks fullback Derrick Coleman arrested and immediately suspend after hit-and-run.

BELLEVUE, Washington -- Seattle Seahawks fullback Derrick Coleman, who made headlines a couple years ago after becoming the first legally Deaf offensive player in National Football League history, is making headlines again. But this time, it’s for all the wrong reasons.

According to reports the Seattle Times, Coleman was arrested in Bellevue, Washington. at around 1:20 a.m. today after he allegedly hit a car while driving and then tried to walk away from the scene.

A police report indicates that the pickup truck Coleman was driving hit a car, which resulted in the driver of that car suffering a broken collarbone. Coleman then got out of his truck and walked away, viewed the raw footage. He was spotted nearby a short time later and arrested. A sobriety test was performed, but the police report did not indicate that he was intoxicated at the time of the crash.

Coleman has been charged with vehicular assault and hit and run and is currently being held without bail. He is scheduled to appear before a judge today. Stay tuned for further details: Derrick Coleman.

Complex is a community of creators and curators, armed with the Internet, committed to surfacing and sharing the voices and conversations that define our new America.

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Ethiopian Immigrant's Role Model For Deaf Inmates

WATCH [CC] - Deaf News: Ethiopian immigrant is a role model for Deaf inmates in the United States.

A Deaf Ethiopian immigrant is the new champion for US inmates with hearing impairments. Abreham Zemedagegehu, 41, whose case is causing debate in the US, is suing the powerful sheriff of Arlington, Virginia, for failing to take into account his disabilities during his detention following a theft in 2014.

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“In prison, no one could communicate with me,” Abreham Zemedagegehu told the magistrates. This caused him to suffer inhuman and degrading treatment, to the point that he often missed lunch and dinner because he couldn’t hear the bell for mealtimes. Not to mention that he couldn’t communicate with the outside world because there was no phone equipment to meet his needs. Neither was he given access to a doctor who could understand the medications he required.

Moreover, according to some of the major human rights organisations, Abreham Zemedagegehu is no exception. He’s just proof of a prison system that is not equipped to provide the basic services for prisoners with hearing disabilities, who represent between 5% and 7% of the entire prison population.

Non-governmental organizations say that even small changes would be enough to change things drastically. Some state prisons in the US even state-run prisons in Virginia have become role models to imitate. Arlington prison, where Abreham is detained, is under federal jurisdiction, however, so doesn’t fall into this category. Many state prisons now provide access for the Deaf to electronic message boards for announcements and video phones for calls to family and friends. While there are sign language interpreters for circumstances such as professional courses, disciplinary hearings or medical visits.

SOURCE

NOTE: Deaf YouVideo has learned, the West Welfare Society Territory web-site posted an error picture of Kenneth Felix Jr aka KenX50 instead of Abreham Zemedagegehu as seen HERE.

Related:
Deaf Man Jailed With No Access To Interpreter
Deaf Immigrant Awarded $250K Settlement

Deaf Man Jailed Without Interpreter, Wins Case

Deaf News: Deaf man jailed without sign language translator wins case against District of Columbia jail.

WASHINGTON -- A Deaf man who was jailed for 51 days without a sign language translator - left unable to communicate with prison doctors, his counselor, his teachers and other inmates - has won a discrimination case against the District of Columbia.

William Pierce is profoundly Deaf and communicates with sign language. After he pleaded guilty to a simple assault charge stemming from a domestic dispute, he was sentenced to the D.C. Correctional Treatment Facility, which is operated by Corrections Corporation of America.

The jail assumed that "lip-reading and exchanging written notes would suffice," and did not provide a translator, the court found.

"They figuratively shrugged and effectively sat on their hands," the court's decision read. Pierce felt isolated and confused by what was happening in jail, he said in court filings.

The court found that the District and CCA had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as well as the 1973 Rehabilitation Act.

“I am very pleased with Judge Jackson’s decision to find that the District of Columbia violated my rights as a Deaf man and a human being,” Pierce said, through an interpreter, in an American Civil Liberties Union press release.

“Video phones and interpreters are critical for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing inmates to have access to the same opportunities as other inmates," Pierce said. "Unfortunately, even with this decision, the denial of service and adequate access continues... Read The Full Story.

Deaf Woman Jailed For Prostitution

Texas Deaf woman sentenced to two years for prostitution.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas -- A Deaf woman, 44-year old Lisa Bouillon, was given a two-year sentence for prostitution on Tuesday, after she was arrested for soliciting an undercover police officer.

Bouillon has been arrested several times in the past for solicitation, and that is what led to the tough sentence.

Sign language interpreters were on hand at the Nueces County Courthouse Monday for an unusual prostitution case, in which the defendant was Deaf.

Bouillon, was soliciting an undercover Corpus Christi police officer. Two sign language interpreters communicated each and every work to Bouillon as the first witness, an undercover police officer, testified about what led up to her arrest. A recording of the bust was played for jurors.

It's not the first time Bouillon had been charged with prostitution. She has been arrested several times in the past, and in 2010, she was sentenced to prison for that crime.

SOURCE