Miami Judge Drops Charge Against King Kong

[matcom]

<snip>

MIAMI -- From the bench Tuesday, the judge guessed at the headline: "Federal charges dismissed against King Kong."

King Kong (his real name) was taken into custody Monday when he came to the courthouse to begin serving a one-year sentence for his role in an alien-smuggling ring.

But the Mandarin-speaking Chinese man, who was charged along with a co-defendant who served as his English translator, had trouble getting his point across in broken English. Federal marshals cited him for disorderly conduct and false statements, and he wound up in court again.

An interpreter was brought to court to help, but Kong waved her off and wanted to do without the headphones transmitting a translation.

"That's why they arrested him yesterday," exclaimed Assistant U.S. Attorney Luis Perez.

Kong relented, donned the headphones and listened. The judge and prosecutor talked back and forth about why Kong was in court.

Finally, he said in Chinese, "Can you listen to me? Can someone listen to me?"

After conferring with an attorney, Kong said he wanted to serve his sentence at a Pennsylvania prison to be near a relative instead of the Miami federal prison camp where he had been assigned.

http://www.wftv.com/irresistible/4151915/detail.html

[JohnKleeb]

1. Thats a relief, Free King Kong!