A FRANTIC COURT CLERK
It was the day before Thanksgiving in Ohio and a short day in court awaited. The phone rings and a bailiff, desperate to help a fellow get out of jail, calls. “Can you help with an arraignment? This man’s been in jail since the sixteenth. I know I called you before but we can’t find a certified interpreter.” Luckily I could squeeze in another assignment before the holiday weekend.
COUNTRY ROADS
There is no easy way to drive from North Canton to East Liverpool, Ohio … not even a four-lane roadway. Plugged in the GPS and ventured down country roads with expansive fields peppered with a cluster of slow-moving cows. My Hyundai tilted deep into a towering tree-strewn valley and emerged in downtown East Liverpool. The joy of this errant interpreter is to meet new folks again and again. I chatted up the court clerk who bemoaned the Ohio winters. She hails from Texas and reported that “you don’t have to shovel sunshine there.” We laughed and complained once again about the cold.
WHAT DID SHE JUST SAY?
I wandered into the courtroom to find several people in faded jail jumpsuits and spotted the Spanish LEP. Fortunately, a uniformed police officer stood by who listened as I provided the pre-session “Good morning, I am an interpreter and not an attorney blah-blah-blah …” When Lady Judge took the bench, she rattled off charges that included a DUI/Driving Under the Influence and “crossing the fog line*.” What??? Confidence shattered. Brain shut down. My neurons rushed to come up with a sensible rendering. I thought “Ohio? Fog lines? There were no heaths on the trek to town today.” Something luckily rolled off the tongue that made sense in the moment.
ASK AND RECEIVE
During the break, I approached the officer and inquired what “fog line” meant in this part of the state. “Oh, that’s the white fog line on the right and yellow’s on the left.” Seems Mr. Defendant, soaked with God-knows-what brew, veered all over State Route 11 and drifted over the “fog line.” Now that makes sense – he committed a marked lanes violation/no manejar dentro de los carriles marcadas. I thanked Mr. Officer and immediately felt my deceased father’s presence. Dad always said if you couldn’t see on a dark and foggy road, just follow the white lines on the right. Thanks, Dad.
PROBLEM SOLVED
A public defender appeared and negotiated a plea for the fellow. He’d spend Thanksgiving with his family and the court released him later that afternoon. I thanked the nice ladies behind the counter, then climbed back into my Elantra to wend the way down Route 39 to New Philadelphia. More arraignments before Thanksgiving vacation begins. I took note of the “fog lines” on serpentine hills that almost turned back on themselves. In Ohio fog lines means marked lanes.
*Fog lines: (also in Ohio called “marked lanes” where a driver doesn’t keep within the lines.)
https://www.riddelllaw.com/marked-lanes-violation/
Tags: arraignment, bailiff, certified interpreter, court clerk, courtroom, defendant, fog line, foggy, four-lane roadway, GPS, interpreter, jail, marked lanes, negotiate a plea, officer, public defender, release, rendering, violation, white lines
In The Middle 