While the Lancaster County judge and attorneys are focused on the legal aspects of a homicide case this week, another group of people in the same courtroom is concentrating just as hard on every word they say.

Four sign language interpreters surround the defense table as they, in turn, make sure that every spoken word is communicated to the defendant, Owen Johnson, who is deaf.

Johnson, 23, of Mount Joy, is on trial for criminal homicide, accused of killing his 3-month-old daughter, Savannah, last November.

The prosecution is seeking to convict Johnson of first-degree murder, indicating that it will also ask that the death penalty be imposed upon the young father.

While interpreters have been used to translate court proceedings into other languages in the past for trial participants in Lancaster County Court, including Spanish, Russian and Chinese, court officials say that sign language interpreters are not as common.

Two teams of interpreters are used so they can switch off and take turns, about every 20 minutes, officials said, because of the physical demands of the sign language interpretation.

One set of interpreters sit behind Johnson at the defense table, facing Judge Dennis Reinaker and the witnesses, listening to the exchange in the courtroom as the attorneys pose questions and discuss legal matters.

The interpreter then communicates, by sign language and facial expression, to another set of interpreters who sit facing Johnson, with their backs to the proceeding, communicating the proceeding directly to him.

The checks and balances of the double interpreters ensures that everything is carefully and correctly interpreted to the defendant, officials explained.

This morning, for the second day, the attorneys went about the task of selecting a jury to decide the case.

Two jurors were selected on Monday, but one — a college student —was brought back into the courtroom this morning because of a scheduling conflict.

The case, Reinaker told the potential jurors, is expected to last about a week with testimony beginning next Monday. After asking a series of questions, Reinaker told the student that the attorneys would decide later today whether he should be excused from the jury.

Attorneys — Assistant District Attorney Karen Mansfield and defense attorney John McMahon — are asking potential jurors whether they could follow the law, presuming the defendant innocent until proven guilty — and, if he's found guilty, whether they could impose the death penalty.

Johnson was arrested after his daughter died at Hershey Medical Center last November.

Police said he was caring for the infant on Nov. 14, when he and his girlfriend summoned an ambulance to their South Plum Street home.

The child's mother, Marla Rabenstein, 18, said the baby was fine when she handed over her care to Johnson while she did housework.

Rabenstein told police she had wakened the baby and changed her about a half-hour before police were called, and then gave the infant to Johnson.

Johnson told police he fed the baby a bottle and held her as she fell asleep.

The baby then woke up and he tried to feed her some more but she was coughing hard and went back to sleep, police said Johnson told them.

The baby woke up another time because she was coughing, he said. Once she stopped, he fed her a little bit and she vomited on his shoulder, coughed and began to to turn "a little blue."

According to court documents, Johnson told police, "It looked like she wasn't breathing" and then became unresponsive. He summoned Rabenstein, who was in the kitchen, and the couple called for medical help.

After the baby died, Dr. Wayne Ross, Lancaster County's forensic pathologist, performed an autopsy and determined the infant died of traumatic injuries, including numerous skull fractures and a spinal cord injury. The death was ruled a homicide.

Johnson has denied hurting his daughter, according to court documents.


Staff writer Janet Kelley can be reached at jkelley@LNPnews.com or 481-6026.