Innocent Deaf Man, Denied Interpreter, Spent 6 Weeks in Jail

A deaf man spent six weeks in jail because the police would not provide him with a translator to explain his situation.

The Associated Press reports that Abreham Zemedagegehu was falsely accused of stealing a man's iPad at Reagan International Airport. The man who accused Zemedagegehu eventually found his iPad, but not without Zemedageghu spending six weeks in prison because of the false accusation.

Zemedageghu is an immigrant from Ethiopia who has US citizenship. He knows both Ethiopian and American sign language, but he can only write extremely basic English. It is unclear why the Arlington County Sheriff's Office which arrested Zemedageghu was unable to provide a sign language interpreter.

Because the sheriff failed to provide an interpreter, Zemedageghu is filing a lawsuit on the basis that the failure to provide interpreters is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Zemedageghu contends that it was not until he was brought to court that he first understood why he was arrested. He also says that the police provided outdated technology they expected him to use to communicate. Additionally, the technology only used written English, which Zemedageghu could not understand.

Making matters worse for Zemedageghu is the fact that he had to plea guilty in order to get out of jail. It is also possible that his conviction was unlawful given the fact that the prosecutor did not tell anyone that the man who accused Zemedageghu of theft said he found the iPad well before the guilty plea had been filed in court.

The sheriff's office is seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed. The sheriff's office claims that the technology they provide to death inmates is enough and that some deputies even know sign language.