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A convicted killer's convictions were overturned because of a deaf juror. According to the Akron Beacon Journal, a deaf juror was honest during the jury picking process, about her hearing loss. The defense asked that she be dismissed; the judge disagreed, and let her stay on the jury.
She did not use an interpreter (either sign language or oral) during the trial. All she did was read lips, and sat next to a court reporter who transcribed the audio of a 911 call. The jury convicted the defendant who received time in prison.
Then, a District Court of Appeals overturned the verdict simply based on the fact the juror had had a hearing loss. The appeals' court reasoning was that the deaf juror could not fully understand the 911 call because she could not hear the defendant's speech patterns on the 911 call.
Now the case is in the hands of the Ohio Supreme Court.
Ohio.com - Ohio Supreme Court to hear deaf juror case
Why did judge dismiss deaf juror? Unfair!
They should be prepared with certified Sign Language interpreters ready to be called into court and put to work in a court proceeding.
If there was an UNFAIR advantage in this Ohio case, it clearly belonged to the defense lawyers who used it to their own benefit to get their client off the hook in the appeals court. Just about any lawyer knows the basics of the ADA law. If the judge and the prosecutor don't know the ADA laws? Then they shouldn't be in the state of Ohio court anymore!