Taylor v. State

226 Md.App. 317

130 A.3d 509

Clarence Cepheus TAYLOR, III

v.STATE of Maryland.

No. 2686, Sept. Term, 2013.

Court of Special Appeals of Maryland.

Jan. 27, 2016.

Benjamin M. Miller (Paul B. DeWolfe, Public Defender, on the brief), Baltimore, MD, for Appellant.

Todd W. Hesel (Brian E. Frosh, Atty. Gen., on the brief), Baltimore, MD, for Appellee.

Panel: KRAUSER, C.J., WRIGHT, ARTHUR, JJ.

ARTHUR, J.

This appeal concerns whether a deaf criminal defendant has the constitutional right to confront the interpreter who interpreted his statements during a police interrogation, when the State offers those interpretations as evidence against him in a criminal prosecution.

Clarence Cepheus Taylor III, who is deaf, was arrested on the allegation that he had sexually abused minors. With the aid of sign-language interpreters, detectives interrogated him for almost five hours. Over Taylor's objection at trial, the court admitted a recording that included audio of an interpreter's English-language interpretations of Taylor's sign-language statements. A jury found Taylor guilty of abusing two of the seven complaining witnesses.

Foremost among the issues raised in this appeal, Taylor contends that under Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004), the admission of the interpreter's statements violated his constitutional right to be confronted with the witnesses against him. His contention is correct, and the judgments must be reversed.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Taylor's Supervisory Role at the Maryland School for the Deaf

Taylor was born without the ability to hear. He communicates primarily through American Sign Language (ASL). He can read and write in English, but he does not speak English or understand spoken English.

In 2001, Taylor began working as a Student Life Counselor at the Columbia campus of the Maryland School for the Deaf. The Columbia campus, which serves students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, provides a residential dormitory to accommodate students who live far away from the facility. Taylor typically supervised groups of five or six male students in the afternoons and evenings. He later took on additional responsibilities as an after-school coordinator and basketball coach for both boys and girls.

Taylor's employment came to an end in the fall of 2012. In November of that year, the School received a report from four female students, De., M., P., and S., who claimed that Taylor had touched them inappropriately at the Columbia campus between 2008 and 2011. The School placed Taylor on forced leave and reported the accusations to the Howard County police.

B. Criminal Investigation by Howard County Police

Detective Penelope Camp served as lead investigator. Based on the results of her interviews of three students, she arrested Taylor and brought him to the police station for questioning on December 6, 2012.

The nearly five-hour interrogation was recorded by video cameras and microphones.

Because Detective Camp is unable to use or understand sign language, she arranged for a team of two interpreters to facilitate the questioning: Mr. Joe L. Smith, an ASL interpreter who could hear the detective's questions; and Ms. Charm Smith, a Certified Deaf Interpreter (CDI) who could not hear the questions. The detective asked questions in English, which the interpreters conveyed to Taylor through sign language; Taylor responded in sign language; the two interpreters converted his responses into English; and then Mr. Smith provided his spoken English interpretations of what Taylor had said in sign language. This collaborative interpretation process is known as relay interpretation or intermediary interpretation. State v. Wright, 768 N.W.2d 512, 518 n. 2 (S.D.2009) (citing Linton v. State, 275 S.W.3d 493, 510 (Tex.Crim.App.2009) (Johnson, J., concurring)); see also Vasquez v. Kirkland, 572 F.3d 1029, 1032–33 (9th Cir.2009).¹

Through the interpreters, Detective Camp informed Taylor that he had "the right to remain silent," that "anything [he] sa[id] may be used against [him]," and that he had the right to have an attorney present. Taylor briefly inquired about the meaning of "the right of getting a counsel." Taylor then read and signed a written Miranda waiver form, indicating that he understood and voluntarily waived those rights.

Detective Camp told Taylor that his arrest was related to his conduct in his former role as a dorm counselor at the Maryland School for the Deaf. The detective stated that multiple students had accused Taylor of touching their breasts or buttocks on numerous occasions, of kissing them, and of exchanging intimate text messages with them. Before the detective had provided the names of the accusers, Taylor brought up students named Da., S., and M., two of whom were among the initial complainants. Later, the detective asked specific questions about De. and P.

Through the interpreter, Taylor at first denied making any inappropriate physical contact with students. He stated that he may have made accidental contact with someone in the school hallways, which he described as crowded and narrow at certain points. He also stated that he would sometimes greet students with a handshake combined with a hug and that it was possible that his hand could have brushed against a person's chest. He admitted that he had exchanged text messages with a number of students and that some female students had sent him revealing photographs.

According to the interpreter's account of Taylor's statements, Taylor also stated that on specific instances he had accidentally touched particular girls. For example, according to the interpreter, Taylor admitted that he actually had touched Da. on the buttocks, but that he had done so by accident and had immediately apologized to her. In another instance, the interpreter reported that Taylor gave this response to questions about touching De.'s breast: "Right, I mean, maybe it was the brushing like everything else but it wasn't an intentional touch or anything. It was accidental. It wasn't, maybe it wasn't a complete hug." At trial and on appeal, Taylor has contested the accuracy of the interpreter's assertion that he admitted to specific incidents of inappropriate touching: he contends that he never admitted to having actually touched any of the young women's breasts or buttocks, but merely to have stated that if he had done so, it would have been an accident, for which he would have apologized.

At the detective's request, Taylor handwrote five short letters of apology addressed to Da., De., M., P., and S. Each letter expressed remorse and asked for forgiveness without describing any of Taylor's actual conduct. For instance, in his letter to Da., Taylor wrote: "I said really am sorry about you. I know that you dislike talk to me. I said so sorry about it situation. I wonder you can forgive me no matter what! ... I want to say to you ‘Sorry’!"

When he finished writing, Taylor, through the interpreters, asked: "I wanted to know is the lawyer going to be coming to meet with me or can I ask for a lawyer now?" At that point, Detective Camp ended the questioning.

C. Pre–Trial Proceedings

On January 16, 2013, the State filed seven indictments against Taylor. Each indictment corresponded to one of seven complainants: Da., De., K., M., P., S., and T.² The State charged Taylor with one count of sexual abuse of a minor for each of the minors. See Md.Code (2001, 2012 Repl.Vol.), Criminal Law Art., § 3–602(b)(1) ("A ... person who has permanent or temporary care or custody or responsibility for the supervision of a minor may not cause sexual abuse to the minor"); id. § 3–602(a)(4)(i) (" ‘Sexual abuse’ means an act that involves sexual molestation or exploitation of a minor, whether physical injuries are sustained or not"). The State also charged Taylor with four counts of solicitation of child pornography. Id. § 11–207(a).

When Taylor's defense counsel first entered his appearance, he filed a generic "Omnibus Pre–Trial Defense Motion" that included a comprehensive list of unspecific and unsupported requests for relief. The State arranged for the detectives and the two sign-language interpreters from the interrogation to testify at the motions hearing. After the hearing was postponed for cause, however, Taylor's attorney failed to appear on the rescheduled hearing date. An attorney with no knowledge of the case appeared for the sole purpose of requesting a postponement. After the court declined to postpone the hearing, the attorney withdrew all of Taylor's pre-trial motions.

The court then denied a written motion for another hearing on the issue of whether Taylor's statements to police should be suppressed. Taylor later filed a motion to sever, which the court also denied after a hearing.

D. The State's Case Against Taylor

A jury trial on all charges against Taylor commenced on October 28, 2013, and continued for nearly three weeks. Because the defendant and many of the witnesses are deaf, much of the testimony was communicated through court-appointed interpreters.³

The female students themselves were the primary witnesses against Taylor. Each of the seven students testified about specific instances of Taylor's inappropriate touching while they were under his supervision. According to many of the State's witnesses, Taylor used handshakes and hugs that are similar to other greetings commonly used at the Maryland School for the Deaf. While none of the witnesses disputed that touching plays an important role in communication among the deaf community, particularly for greetings or to get a person's attention,⁴ the students claimed that Taylor performed the embraces in an unusual manner.

The other main source of evidence against Taylor was the recording of Taylor's interrogation. The recording included video of the sign-language communications between Taylor and the interpreters, as well as audio of the statements by the ASL interpreter, Mr. Smith, interpreting what Taylor had said...