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State v. Cham6/1/2004
On appeal from the district court's dismissal of the charges against respondent Mark Ajaak Cham, the state argues that the district court improperly concluded that Cham was denied his right to a speedy trial. The state also argues that the district court abused it discretion by (1) appointing an interpreter for Cham; (2) dismissing the charges without requiring Cham to make an offer of proof that the witnesses he intended to call required an interpreter and that their testimony would have been relevant; and (3) considering *123 the cost of the proceeding in dismissing the charges. Because we conclude that Cham was not denied his right to a speedy trial, we reverse.
FACTS
In October 2001, Kirk Honius, a Worthington police officer, responded to a report of a disturbance in progress in a parking lot. When Honius arrived on the scene, he found an eight-month pregnant woman, Abang Ojullu, standing in the parking lot. She told Honius that Cham, her boyfriend, had assaulted her. Ojullu also told Honius that Cham had been drinking and that he had driven away when he heard police sirens.
Honius provided information concerning the assault to Tim Gaul, another police officer who knew Cham from previous contact. Approximately one hour later, Gaul located Cham at a Texaco Food Mart and noticed that Cham was intoxicated. Gaul placed Cham under arrest for domestic assault and for driving under the influence.
Cham is an immigrant from Africa and speaks limited English. His native language is Anuak, a language spoken by a small group of people located in Sudan and western Ethiopia. When Gaul read Cham the implied consent advisory, Cham requested an Anuak interpreter. But Gaul could not obtain an Anuak interpreter. When Cham began to be disruptive Gaul restrained Cham and finally brought him to the Worthington jail.
Scott Berger, an investigator for the Worthington police, conducted two interviews with Cham. Cham told Berger that he did not need an interpreter. During the interviews, Cham spoke English unassisted, and Cham admitted both that he had assaulted Ojullu and that he had driven the car on the day of the incident. But Cham denied that he had been drinking.
After the complaint against Cham was properly filed, the court administrator set an omnibus hearing for November 2001. But the hearing was rescheduled to December 2001 after the interpreter that had been scheduled for Cham failed to appear. The omnibus hearing went forward in December 2001 with an interpreter. In February 2002, Cham appeared for arraignment. Although no interpreter was present, Cham pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and requested a jury trial and an Anuak interpreter for that trial. A jury trial and an interpreter were scheduled for July 2002. For administrative reasons, however, the jury trial was continued to October 2002.
In October 2002, the district court issued an order allowing Cham to proceed with an interpreter who would interpret those aspects of the proceeding that Cham did not understand, rather than translating every word. The trial was continued to January 2003, however, and then again to April 2003, because the interpreter was unavailable.
One day before the April 2003 trial was scheduled to begin, the interpreter contacted the court administrator to say she would not attend. Because another interpreter was not available, the trial was again rescheduled for late August 2003. In June 2003, Cham moved to dismiss the charges against him, arguing that he had been denied his right to a speedy trial. The district court denied the motion.
In mid-August 2003, the interpreter scheduled to appear at trial cancelled the appearance; no other Anuak interpreters were available for the August 2003 trial. On August 20, 2003, the district court, on i
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