Representatives from Maryland’s attorney general’s office will tell the state’s highest court Tuesday that a Liberian immigrant who had child sex abuse charges against him dismissed last summer either initiated or agreed to nearly all delays in his trial.
Former Rockville resident Mahamu Kanneh was the focus of national media attention when a judge dismissed the charges against him in mid-July, ruling his right to a speedy trial had been violated while officials hunted for an interpreter. Kanneh speaks Vai, a rare West African language.
Kanneh was arrested in August 2004 for allegedly raping and molesting a 7-year-old relative and fondling an 18-month-old infant, and the effects of the Kanneh case persist today.
Nearly three years passed between Kanneh’s arrest and the dismissal of the charges, but Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Grill Graeff said in a court brief that delays were not the prosecution’s fault.
“The delay of almost three years was not unreasonable given that the reasons for delay involved processing DNA evidence, determining Kanneh’s competency and finding a competent and willing interpreter for Kanneh that spoke a rare tribal language in Liberia,” the brief said.
Graeff’s brief adds that there were more than 21 hearings before dismissal and “the continuances in this case were either requested by, or agreed to, by the defense.”
Kanneh has been slated for deportation back to Liberia, but prosecutors are hoping the state Court of Special Appeals will reverse a lower court decision and allow him to be tried for the crimes before he goes.
Officials with the public defender’s office that is representing Kanneh did not respond to requests for comment.
Baltimore County Del. Pat McDonough is now attempting to impeach Montgomery Circuit Court Judge Katherine Savage, who dismissed the charges against Kanneh.
“I thought that this case stood out as a blatant example of a violation of court rules and an injustice to victims,” said McDonough, whose bill is awaiting review in the House Judiciary Committee.
Slow motion
Timeline of events in the criminal trial of Mahamu Kanneh:
» Arrested Aug. 18, 2004
» Indicted Dec. 3, 2004
» Case dismissed on speedy trial violation July 17, 2007
» State files notice to appeal on July 23, 2007
» Federal immigration judge orders Kanneh deported Nov. 7, 2007
