Deaf woman testifies in Northampton County Court against attacker

Deaf woman testifies in Northampton County Court against attacker - lehighvalleylive.com

Although she was inconsistent in some statements and tripped over some common-knowledge questions, a judge ruled a deaf woman was competent to testify against her alleged attacker.

Jennifer Davis, 24, testified Monday that Iman Sharif punched her in the nose and broke into her Easton apartment on Feb. 13, 2008.

Defense attorney Christopher Shipman asked Northampton County Judge Edward G. Smith to find her incompetent to testify, but the judge refused after a brief hearing.

"You offend me. You're offensive to deaf people," Davis told Shipman through an American Sign Language interpreter, signing furiously and becoming upset. "I don't have anything wrong with my mental health."

Davis answered several questions incorrectly during the competency hearing: She said Monday's date was March 20 and George Bush is the current president of the United States.

When Shipman asked Davis what her date of birth is, she signed, "Why are you asking me that stupid question?" before answering Jan. 13, 1985.

Smith said plenty of witnesses would have to be disqualified if they were required to know Barack Obama is president.

Davis denied saying some things that were recorded on a preliminary hearing transcript. But it's up to a jury to decide whether she's telling the truth, not a judge, according to Northampton County Prosecutor Patricia Mulqueen.

Monday was the second time Davis has had to testify, but the first time she did so with a sign language interpreter.

Sharif's first trial in January was declared a mistrial after Davis testified using the county's internal instant messenger system, because an interpreter was not found in time.

Sharif, 36, of East Orange, N.J., is accused of breaking into Davis' apartment two times last year and punching her in the nose during the first break-in.

Davis, who now lives in Allentown, said she met Sharif on Northampton Street on the day he broke into her apartment and attacked her. She went to the police station Feb. 20 and identified Sharif in a photo lineup.

When she came home, Davis found her bathroom window smashed and Sharif in the living room "looking mean." Davis testified Sharif then ran away.

Sharif claims he had an intimate relationship with Davis, cooking and cleaning for her. Shipman said Davis found out Sharif was dating another woman and reported him to the police because she was a scorned woman.

"It is a story as old as the hills," Shipman said.

According to court papers, police said Sharif was arrested for breaking into the same apartment two years earlier. When police asked Sharif the name of Davis' son, Sharif said he did not know it.

Sharif is charged with burglary, stalking, criminal trespass, simple assault and harassment.

Man pleads guilty to assaulting deaf Easton woman

New Jersey Man Pleads Guilty To Assaulting Deaf Woman: Iman Sharif was accused of stalking Jennifer Davis of Easton. -- themorningcall.com

A New Jersey man accused of stalking a deaf Easton woman pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges this morning, a day after his trial got off to a rocky start.

Iman R. Sharif, 36, of East Orange, admitted to simple assault for punching Jennifer Davis in the face outside her Northampton Street apartment last year, and he also pleaded guilty to a drug paraphernalia charge. Northampton County Judge Edward Smith sentenced him to one to two years in county prison, and ordered him to stay out of Pennsylvania as a condition of his parole.

The plea came a day after Jennifer Davis, 24, took the stand to testify Sharif punched her in the nose Feb. 13, 2008, hours after he approached her at a market and was ignored. She said a week later, she met with police to talk about the assault. When she returned home, she said, she found Sharif in her apartment.

"You chose a victim who was, by all appearances, an easy target," Smith told Sharif. "And I also believe you were depending on her not having the strength to appear in court and testify against you.



"But she did and she did in an outstanding manner," Smith said.

Sharif, who has a lengthy criminal record, is eligible for immediate parole since he already has been in prison for 14 months. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dropped charges of burglary, stalking, criminal trespass and harassment.

The case has seen many twists and turns. In January, a mistrial was declared after the lack of a sign-language interpreter and an experiment with typed testimony produced answers from Davis that often seemingly did not make sense.

There were two sign interpreters on hand for the new trial, but Davis' testimony still provoked controversy.

Defense attorney Christopher Shipman yesterday requested that Davis be declared an incompetent witness after she spent two hours on the stand. That provoked a hearing in which Davis failed to properly name the U.S. president -- she said Bush -- but in which she accurately described the role of the jury, prosecutors and the defense, and stressed that she knows the importance of telling the truth.

"On some points she's fine," Shipman said. "But on some points, she's bizarrely off-base."

"You offend me and you are offensive to deaf people," Davis told Shipman in a statement interpreters at first shied away from saying in court.

Smith ruled Davis was competent.

Assistant District Attorney Patricia Mulqueen said at the guilty plea hearing that Davis was "humiliated" during the crime and in court.

Like Smith, she praised Davis for testifying, despite the many challenges.

"She ended up being much stronger than this defendant gave her credit for," Mulqueen said.

Smith told the county prison to transfer Sharif's parole to New Jersey as soon as possible. He ordered Sharif to undergo a drug and alcohol evaluation and to submit to random urine screenings.