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Dallas County exoneration shows changes needed to deal fairly with the deaf, lawyers say | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Breaking News for Dallas-Fort Worth | Dallas Morning News
There's no doubt Stephen Matthew Brodie's deafness contributed to his wrongful conviction nearly two decades ago for the sexual assault of a 5-year-old Richardson girl.
He was finally exonerated this week – becoming the nation's first deaf exoneree – after a judge heard about a plethora of missteps by Richardson police and declared him innocent.
But in many ways not much has changed among police and prosecutors since Brodie was falsely convicted. The Dallas County district attorney's office, which asked a judge to release Brodie, still has no policy to deal with deaf defendants but acknowledged Friday that Brodie's case has made authorities realize they need one.
And not all police departments follow what are considered best practices while interrogating deaf defendants.
For example, prosecutors don't routinely check whether a deaf defendant had a certified interpreter during police questioning, or whether the defendant's written words would have a different meaning in American Sign Language.
Defense attorneys Amber D.F. Elliott and Tim Menchu, who both know ASL, say many of the problems in Brodie's case would not have happened with a hearing suspect. And, as egregious as those problems were, they say the situation could easily happen again.
"There are still problems," said Elliott, an Austin defense attorney who worked with Brodie's attorneys to review the 18 hours of interrogation he went through over eight days.
Evidence at Brodie's exoneration hearing this week showed that sign language interpreters were not always present during the interrogation.
And when Richardson police asked Brodie in writing why he abducted and sexually assaulted the girl, he wrote, "I don't know WHY?" Those words were taken as a confession until the district attorney's office began reinvestigating the case.
Lost in translation
But Elliott said that in ASL the question is often repeated back in the answer to questions that ask who, what, where, why, when or how. She said Brodie was saying he didn't know "why" police kept asking him questions.
Menchu, who defends many deaf Dallas County defendants, and Elliot both said police should not have relied on written questions because English is a second language to someone who uses ASL.
"The hearing public generally thinks a deaf person speaks English. But it is American Sign Language, which is a different language," said Menchu, who learned to sign because his sister is deaf. "Even if you understand what is literally said, you may not understand the idea behind it."
Terri Moore, first assistant to Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins, acknowledged Friday that her office needs to adopt a standard to deal with the deaf. The number of deaf defendants is small, but Moore said that doesn't mean the criminal justice system shouldn't be prepared.
"This whole case was a learning experience," said Moore, who worked on reinvestigating the Brodie case but has never prosecuted or defended a deaf defendant. "I think this was an eye-opening case, and there's going to be a lot of conversation about best practices."
Moore said the district attorney's office plans to reach out to Elliott to determine a procedure for dealing with the deaf.
Elliott and Menchu said the Dallas police policy of using an officer as an interpreter is not the best practice. They said police should use a certified interpreter who is trained to sign legal words like those that come up in Miranda warnings when officers ask suspects to waive their rights. Elliott said the ideas of waiving your rights to remain silent and to have an attorney don't automatically translate in deaf culture.
"I find that hugely problematic," Elliott said of the Dallas police policy. "Knowing basic signing and finger spelling is not the same as getting a certified interpreter who knows how to interpret legal words."
Craig Miller, deputy chief over the Dallas police crimes against persons unit, said the department uses officers who sign just as it would use an officer who speaks French or Laotian to interpret. Miller, who has been with the department nearly 29 years, said he has never personally worked on a case with a deaf suspect.
"A lot of what we do happens after 5 p.m.," Miller said, saying time is often of the essence. "To find a certified, official deaf interpreter at 2 in the morning would be difficult."
But after he was told that using a police officer who signs isn't considered the best practice, Miller said he would talk with the district attorney's office about the policy.
In Irving, the Police Department spokesman, Officer John Argumaniz, said investigators use certified ASL interpreters once someone becomes a suspect because they don't want a possible confession thrown out of court.
Richardson police, whose investigation led to Brodie's conviction, did not respond to inquiries about whether their policies have changed since his interrogation. The department has not admitted conducting any part of the case improperly, despite state District Judge Lena Levario's ruling Monday that mistakes were made.
'Clown' voice vs. 'low' voice
For 20 years, authorities have said that the 5-year-old victim told them her attacker spoke with a "clown" voice. Police and prosecutors have said the girl was describing how a deaf person speaks. But a recording of the interview shows the girl actually told police the man had a "low voice."
In addition to communication problems, after Brodie's plea, Richardson police matched a fingerprint found on a window to someone who had pleaded guilty to a similar crime and is suspected of being a serial rapist. But Richardson police maintained that Brodie was guilty, according to testimony at Brodie's exoneration hearing.
When another Richardson case led to an exoneration in 2008, partly because of faulty eyewitness testimony, the department quickly changed how it conducts photo lineups. But the police chief who made those changes has since retired.
Brodie became a suspect in the 1990 sex case after he lost his hearing aid at a Richardson pool while stealing quarters from a drink machine. Police asking him about the theft also asked him about the child's abduction and sexual assault. He eventually pleaded guilty to the crime in 1993 and was sentenced to five years in prison.
Brodie, 39, said this week that his reason for falsely admitting guilt back then was simple.
"I just got tired," Brodie signed through an interpreter. "It was too much pressure."
Timeline
1990 – A 5-year-old Richardson girl is abducted from her home and forced to perform a sex act.
1993 – Stephen Brodie pleads guilty to the crime in exchange for a five-year sentence. After the plea, Richardson police match a fingerprint from a window of the girl's home to a man who pleaded guilty to a similar crime. That man is a suspected child serial rapist. Police still believe Brodie is responsible.
1994 – State District Judge Lena Levario denies a new trial for Brodie despite the fingerprint evidence. She cites, among other things, his guilty plea.
2007 – Brodie is convicted of failing to register as a sex offender.
February 2010 – Brodie's father writes to the Dallas County district attorney's office asking for help. The office's conviction integrity unit investigates.
Monday – Levario declares Brodie innocent after hearing evidence of numerous problems with his case. Several former Richardson officers say they had had doubts for years about Brodie's guilt.
Tuesday – Brodie is released. He is the first deaf person exonerated in the country, according to the Innocence Project in New York. He is the third non-DNA exoneree in Dallas County and the 23rd man exonerated in the county since 2001.
There's no doubt Stephen Matthew Brodie's deafness contributed to his wrongful conviction nearly two decades ago for the sexual assault of a 5-year-old Richardson girl.
He was finally exonerated this week – becoming the nation's first deaf exoneree – after a judge heard about a plethora of missteps by Richardson police and declared him innocent.
But in many ways not much has changed among police and prosecutors since Brodie was falsely convicted. The Dallas County district attorney's office, which asked a judge to release Brodie, still has no policy to deal with deaf defendants but acknowledged Friday that Brodie's case has made authorities realize they need one.
And not all police departments follow what are considered best practices while interrogating deaf defendants.
For example, prosecutors don't routinely check whether a deaf defendant had a certified interpreter during police questioning, or whether the defendant's written words would have a different meaning in American Sign Language.
Defense attorneys Amber D.F. Elliott and Tim Menchu, who both know ASL, say many of the problems in Brodie's case would not have happened with a hearing suspect. And, as egregious as those problems were, they say the situation could easily happen again.
"There are still problems," said Elliott, an Austin defense attorney who worked with Brodie's attorneys to review the 18 hours of interrogation he went through over eight days.
Evidence at Brodie's exoneration hearing this week showed that sign language interpreters were not always present during the interrogation.
And when Richardson police asked Brodie in writing why he abducted and sexually assaulted the girl, he wrote, "I don't know WHY?" Those words were taken as a confession until the district attorney's office began reinvestigating the case.
Lost in translation
But Elliott said that in ASL the question is often repeated back in the answer to questions that ask who, what, where, why, when or how. She said Brodie was saying he didn't know "why" police kept asking him questions.
Menchu, who defends many deaf Dallas County defendants, and Elliot both said police should not have relied on written questions because English is a second language to someone who uses ASL.
"The hearing public generally thinks a deaf person speaks English. But it is American Sign Language, which is a different language," said Menchu, who learned to sign because his sister is deaf. "Even if you understand what is literally said, you may not understand the idea behind it."
Terri Moore, first assistant to Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins, acknowledged Friday that her office needs to adopt a standard to deal with the deaf. The number of deaf defendants is small, but Moore said that doesn't mean the criminal justice system shouldn't be prepared.
"This whole case was a learning experience," said Moore, who worked on reinvestigating the Brodie case but has never prosecuted or defended a deaf defendant. "I think this was an eye-opening case, and there's going to be a lot of conversation about best practices."
Moore said the district attorney's office plans to reach out to Elliott to determine a procedure for dealing with the deaf.
Elliott and Menchu said the Dallas police policy of using an officer as an interpreter is not the best practice. They said police should use a certified interpreter who is trained to sign legal words like those that come up in Miranda warnings when officers ask suspects to waive their rights. Elliott said the ideas of waiving your rights to remain silent and to have an attorney don't automatically translate in deaf culture.
"I find that hugely problematic," Elliott said of the Dallas police policy. "Knowing basic signing and finger spelling is not the same as getting a certified interpreter who knows how to interpret legal words."
Craig Miller, deputy chief over the Dallas police crimes against persons unit, said the department uses officers who sign just as it would use an officer who speaks French or Laotian to interpret. Miller, who has been with the department nearly 29 years, said he has never personally worked on a case with a deaf suspect.
"A lot of what we do happens after 5 p.m.," Miller said, saying time is often of the essence. "To find a certified, official deaf interpreter at 2 in the morning would be difficult."
But after he was told that using a police officer who signs isn't considered the best practice, Miller said he would talk with the district attorney's office about the policy.
In Irving, the Police Department spokesman, Officer John Argumaniz, said investigators use certified ASL interpreters once someone becomes a suspect because they don't want a possible confession thrown out of court.
Richardson police, whose investigation led to Brodie's conviction, did not respond to inquiries about whether their policies have changed since his interrogation. The department has not admitted conducting any part of the case improperly, despite state District Judge Lena Levario's ruling Monday that mistakes were made.
'Clown' voice vs. 'low' voice
For 20 years, authorities have said that the 5-year-old victim told them her attacker spoke with a "clown" voice. Police and prosecutors have said the girl was describing how a deaf person speaks. But a recording of the interview shows the girl actually told police the man had a "low voice."
In addition to communication problems, after Brodie's plea, Richardson police matched a fingerprint found on a window to someone who had pleaded guilty to a similar crime and is suspected of being a serial rapist. But Richardson police maintained that Brodie was guilty, according to testimony at Brodie's exoneration hearing.
When another Richardson case led to an exoneration in 2008, partly because of faulty eyewitness testimony, the department quickly changed how it conducts photo lineups. But the police chief who made those changes has since retired.
Brodie became a suspect in the 1990 sex case after he lost his hearing aid at a Richardson pool while stealing quarters from a drink machine. Police asking him about the theft also asked him about the child's abduction and sexual assault. He eventually pleaded guilty to the crime in 1993 and was sentenced to five years in prison.
Brodie, 39, said this week that his reason for falsely admitting guilt back then was simple.
"I just got tired," Brodie signed through an interpreter. "It was too much pressure."
Timeline
1990 – A 5-year-old Richardson girl is abducted from her home and forced to perform a sex act.
1993 – Stephen Brodie pleads guilty to the crime in exchange for a five-year sentence. After the plea, Richardson police match a fingerprint from a window of the girl's home to a man who pleaded guilty to a similar crime. That man is a suspected child serial rapist. Police still believe Brodie is responsible.
1994 – State District Judge Lena Levario denies a new trial for Brodie despite the fingerprint evidence. She cites, among other things, his guilty plea.
2007 – Brodie is convicted of failing to register as a sex offender.
February 2010 – Brodie's father writes to the Dallas County district attorney's office asking for help. The office's conviction integrity unit investigates.
Monday – Levario declares Brodie innocent after hearing evidence of numerous problems with his case. Several former Richardson officers say they had had doubts for years about Brodie's guilt.
Tuesday – Brodie is released. He is the first deaf person exonerated in the country, according to the Innocence Project in New York. He is the third non-DNA exoneree in Dallas County and the 23rd man exonerated in the county since 2001.