Sammy Lozada was found guilty of murder in 2019 and sentenced to life in prison for the 2017 stabbing of Carlos Ramos. The state's highest court overturned the conviction and ordered a new trial, citing insufficient translation for the deaf witness Maria Samot. The court ruled that the interpreters used did not comply with statutory requirements for effective communication. This led to issues during Samot's testimony, impacting the prosecution's case and resulting in the need for a retrial.
The translation services provided to Maria Samot, a deaf witness who was the prosecution's key identification witness, were found insufficient for accurate communication during the trial.
The Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the previous trial violated statutory requirements that ensure accurate communication between interpreters and deaf witnesses.
Issues were highlighted regarding Samot’s idiosyncratic gestures and how they were not properly understood by the interpreters used during her testimony.
Experts testified that the interpreting team failed to communicate effectively with Samot, leading to nonresponsive answers during her cross-examination.
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