Remember the scene in Airplane! where the old lady tells the stewardess she speaks jive?
UPI: Gang defendant gets 'urban translator'
A former Chicago death row inmate has been granted permission to have a former gang enforcer to serve as an "urban translator" in court proceedings.
Aaron Patterson is suing the Chicago police department on grounds officers allegedly tortured a murder confession out of him before he was pardoned of murder in 2003 and released from prison.
He was charged in 2004 with drug and weapons dealing, was convicted last year and prosecutors are seeking a 30-year sentence next month, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Meanwhile, his lawyer got permission from a federal judge to allow Wallace Bradley, an alleged former gang hit-man, to sit with lawyers at the table in the litigation to serve as a cultural "translator," the report said.
Lawyer Frank Avila said Bradley is able to help Patterson control his "unique personality," which in court has ranged from shouting to threatening and attacking his own lawyers.
Bradley said he considers himself to be a nothing more than a legal assistant.
"I'm explaining you can't jump on your attorney," he said.
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