Opinion ID: 3062090
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Hasan II

Text: On remand, the district court found that Hasan spoke primarily English and that his comprehension or communication had not been inhibited such that the lack of an interpreter during his grand jury appearances deprived him of fundamental fairness. Specifically, the district court said that “the evidence was uncontroverted that the Defendant communicated with 1) his employers, 2) students on his bus routes and 3) his wife, in English.” Id., 609 F.3d at 1128 (quoting district court’s order). -8- But on appeal we concluded the findings were insufficient under the legal standard established in Hasan I. We again remanded, holding that the district court failed to weigh indicators of Hasan’s ability to speak English “against contrary indicators of his Somali-language ability” in determining whether Hasan spoke only or primarily a language other than English. Hasan II, 609 F.3d at 1129. “There is no doubt that Mr. Hasan used English in some circumstances . . . . [b]ut under the proper legal standard, such a fact does not necessarily entail a finding that his primary language was English . . . . This is precisely why we insisted on a comparative standard in the first place, and why it is crucial for the district court to analyze Mr. Hasan’s language abilities under this standard.” Id. We directed the court to answer this question, and if English was not Hasan’s primary language, to then resolve whether he could adequately understand and communicate sufficiently to make the proceedings fundamentally fair.