A man accused of assault and endangering the welfare of a child couldn't be arraigned in City Court today.
Jimpce J. Etienne, 33, of 30 Buell St., Batavia, speaks Creole and a Creole interpreter was not immediately available.
No date has been set yet for his arraignment.
Etienne allegedly choked a woman in front of her child.
A woman identified as his girlfriend was in court. She had sent a letter to the court asking that a "stay away" order be revised to require him to refrain from offensive conduct and not to drink alcohol around her or the children.
She told Judge Bob Balbick that Etienne is employed full-time and provides for their four children. In answer to a question by the judge, she said she isn't afraid of Etienne and that he never causes a problem during the weekdays when he's working. This implied problems only occur on weekends when he might drink.
Balbick also ordered an alcohol evaluation by Genesee Justice. Etienne's bail was made last night, but the judge released him on his own recognizance.
If you can speak enough
If you can speak enough English to get and hold down a full time job, then you speak enough English to be arraigned in a court of law. Maybe we just can't take the chance that he won't fully understand that choking people in this country is not socially acceptable behavior.
In my judgment, he was having
In my judgment, he was having a hard time understanding the judge. His girlfriend acted as a sort of interpreter. I couldn't hear what she was saying, but she kept repeating in his ear what the judge was saying.
So no French or Spanish (or
So no French or Spanish (or even someone familiar with Latin) interpreter was available? Creole isn't just a language by itself, it's a mix of a whole bunch of things.
It seems that it would be
It seems that it would be easy enough to ask people who know him at his place of employment to find out how fluent he is in English.