Imagine the message being sent by this case.

A 7-year-old girl said she had been raped and repeatedly molested over the course of a year. Police in Montgomery County, acting on information from a relative, soon arrested a Liberian immigrant living in Gaithersburg. They marshaled witnesses and DNA evidence to prepare for trial.

What was missing — for much of the nearly three years that followed — was an interpreter fluent in the suspect’s native language. A judge recently dropped the charges, not because she found that Mahamu Kanneh had been wrongly accused but because repeated delays in the case had, in her view, violated his right to a speedy trial.

Something doesn’t add up here.

First, the judge let him go because she thought the delay in finding a translator violated his right to a speedy trial… however:

Kanneh spent one night in jail and was released on a $10,000 bond with the restriction that he have no contact with minors. He later waived his right to a speedy trial — in Maryland, defendants have a right to be tried within 180 days following an indictment — because the defense wanted time to conduct its own analysis of DNA evidence.

And about his needing a translator…

The state noted that Kanneh attended high school and community college in Montgomery and spoke to detectives in English.

So this case is either an indictment on our educational system, our judicial system… or both.

Prosecutors, who cannot refile the charges against Kanneh, are considering whether to appeal Savage’s ruling. Kanneh was granted asylum in the United States, according to State’s Attorney John McCarthy. A conviction could have led to deportation proceedings.

And isn’t it interesting he knew enough about our system to seek asylum, but a judge thinks he doesn’t know enough to be tried for raping a child.

UPDATE:
Surprise, Surprise. FoxNews called and spoke with Mahamu Kanneh… in English!