 |
A court language interpreter suing the county for back wages has found himself the object of complaints for allegedly watching pornographic material on his laptop while court was in session.
According to documents acquired under the Open Records Act, complaints concerning allegations of misconduct by Mark Weissenberg were made by two family violence court advocates.
The documents contain complaints regarding Weissenberg’s alleged use of pornography on his laptop in the courtroom of General Sessions Judge Sheridan Randolph on or about March 10 and March 30, 2011.
Â
The first complainant stated in an affidavit that on March 10, she was working in General Sessions Court at the Bradley County Judicial Complex. She sat next to Bradley County Deputy Nathan Headrick. Headrick sat on the woman’s left and Weissenberg sat a few seats to the court advocate’s left with his laptop open. “I looked over at Mark and right as I did, officer Headrick said to Mr. Weissenberg, “What are you doing with that in here, man?’ “What I saw, and what officer Headrick was referring to, were several pornographic pictures of women that he was scrolling through on his laptop,” the court advocate stated.
The first complainant alleged the women in the pictures were in various poses and when Weissenberg noticed she and Headrick were looking at the pictures, he attempted to close his laptop and turn it away from them. “He looked at me in an attempt to make light of the situation and said, ‘Don’t look at this, it’s bad for you.’ Officer Headrick and myself replied, ‘It’s bad for you.’ I also said to Mr. Weissenberg, “that’s disgusting and you don’t need to have that in here,” the court advocate said. “At this point Mr. Weissenberg had managed to turn his laptop off. I am outraged that as an advocate in the court system I was unwillingly exposed to something so perverse and degrading while at work.” The court advocate said while she was still in training, she was warned by her trainer to stay away from Weissenberg because of his “inappropriate, dirty comments.” Headrick verified the court advocate’s account in his own statement.
A second court advocate claimed on March 30, she was seated near Weissenberg during General Sessions Court when he said repeatedly in a low voice, “That’s trashy.” “I looked out of the corner of my eye at Mark’s laptop and saw a pop-up screen with a pornographic video. He continued to whisper, ‘That’s trashy’ several more times,” the second complainant stated. The documents show Judge Randolph was made aware of both complaints. Randolph said Monday, “I have the option to appoint an interpreter upon need. I speak some Spanish and can tell he does a good job,” Randolph said, referring to Weissenberg. Randolph said he could not respond to allegations in the complaints.
Weisenberg referred questions to attorney Travis McDonough, of Miller and Martin, when contacted by telephone Monday afternoon. McDonough said, “Our firm represents Mr. Weissenberg in his effort to collect the money Bradley County owes him due to its violations of Title VI, as described in the complaint we filed in federal court last week. We are aware of the other dispute, but it has no impact on the federal lawsuit.” The lawsuit was filed April 14 by Weissenberg and Flores Enriquez against Bradley County in federal court. Weisenberg claims the county owes him back wages. Enriquez alleges the county assesses the cost of interpreter services against Hispanic defendants while allowing other language speakers to use friends and family members as interpreters. The suit alleges Bradley County purposefully implemented the policy of discrimination knowing it would violate the rights of Hispanic limited-English-proficiency defendants, in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The law prohibits charging such defendants for the right to communicate in criminal proceedings, a practice it deems intentional discrimination.
Weissenberg claims he has provided interpreter services in approximately 2,405 cases, but was paid for his work only when Bradley County General Sessions Court found Hispanic defendants were indigent and he was paid through federal and state funds. At other times, his wages were assessed as court costs to be paid by the defendant. Enriquez paid the $40 interpreter fee even though simple assault charges against him were dismissed. The suit alleges in many cases, Bradley County has not paid Weissenberg for tens of thousands of dollars for his services. The suit also alleges that as a result of Bradley County’s intentional discrimination, Enriquez has incurred monetary damages. Also, many other limited-English-proficiency Hispanic defendants have incurred a monetary obligation to Bradley County and are subject to arrest at any time. No hearing date has been set.
Cleveland Daily Banner —
http://www.clevelandbanner.com/view/full_story/12845572/article-Interpreter-allegedly-watched-porn-during-court?instance=homesecondleft,
Â
{jcomments on}