My Interest in True Crime

I was 10 years old when I lost my hearing, so naturally books became a huge part of my life. My mother read "True Detective" and some others that I cannot recall the names of. So I guess it was natural for me to pick up whatever was lying around -- and read from cover to cover.

As I became older, the detective magazines (and the pictures) started grossing me out, so I switched to True Crime novels, which I still read today. I am one of Ann Rule's biggest fans and have met her in person when she autographed one of the books that she had written. Ann Rule has an online newsletter which is fascinating.

So this murder that is going to trial with the deaf woman defendent, interests me. I feel that she has too many strikes against her, she is deaf, she is black and she is a lesbian. How can The People find a decent jury? I am going to follow this trial very closely.

When I was working in the deaf group home, "moonlighting", we had several deaf people living there who were paroled to us. One was a young, good looking and very personable black man and he had been charged with murder. I do not recall all the details but I really liked this guy, he seemed to be gentle and respectful and very loving. He claimed his innocence and due to the fact that he only used Minimum Language Skills, not pure ASL, it was impossible to give him a fair trial. Reverse interpreters had to be used at all times. When this particular group home was closed by the DVR, I lost contact with this young man and have no idea how the story turned out. I felt really bad for him, he was trapped in a world he did not understand.

I hope that this deaf woman who is coming to trial has an excellent advocate, one that will work very closely with her lawyer. Things are not always as they seem, and too often there are scapegoats.