Video: Phony Interpreter Uses Fake Sign Language at FL Police Press Conference
"She was standing there twisting her hands back and forth. I could tell automatically that interpreters don't do that," said Betti Bonni, a certified deaf interpreter.

When the Tampa (FL) Police Department held a press conference about an arrest made in the highly publicized Seminole Heights homicides case on Nov. 28, many in the deaf community were left in the dark thanks to a phony interpreter.
"She was standing there twisting her hands back and forth. I could tell automatically that interpreters don't do that," said Betti Bonni, a certified deaf interpreter.
Derlyn Roberts showed up at the Tampa Police Department on that night, but as Chief Brian Dugan spoke about the capture of a serial killer suspect, those in the deaf community could tell the interpreter wasn't making any sense, reports WFTS.
Roberts has several fraud arrests on her record, including one conviction that landed her in a state prison.
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