FACING JUDGE CAN BE MATTER OF INTERPRETATION
By Raul Hernandez
Ventura County Star, CA
Monday, September 17, 2007
The Spanish-language interpreter patiently wades through pink pages
of a plea-bargain agreement. The standard court form is several pages
long, awash with legalese, sentencing terms and constitutional rights.
Linda Evans reads a stack of pages to a Carpinteria man who stabbed his
wife last year. She’ll read another stack with slightly different terms
to the man’s brother, who handed him the knife used in the attack.
Evans, a state-certified court interpreter, tries to make sure the
brothers comprehend what is said or written in English. The stakes
are high in Courtroom 14. Fermin Garcia Alcantar is facing 15 years
in prison. His brother, Lionel Alcantar, could get four years behind
bars for his role.
Ventura County Superior Court Judge Kevin McGee needs to be satisfied
that the men understand what they are signing. Judges won’t accept
plea agreements unless they conclude that defendants made them
"freely and voluntarily."
Evans must interpret accurately and without paraphrasing, omitting
or editing.
"It is really difficult," said Cecilia Isaac, supervisor of the
county’s interpreters. "Just because you speak the language doesn’t
mean you will be able to stand next to a defendant and interpret."
As the number of California residents with limited English skills
keeps rising, courtrooms across the state are facing a shortage of
translators to deal with the language barriers.
"There is a critical shortage, and there has been for some time,"
said Lynn Holton, spokeswoman for the state Judicial Council’s
Administrative Office of the Courts.
Officials have launched a recruiting campaign to get more people
interested in translating for the courts, Holton said.
Also, a major study of the state’s testing program for translators
could result in raising passing scores on the tough oral and written
state language exams, she said.
Only those who pass the test and register with the Judicial Council
can interpret in the courts. The pass rate for the Spanish exam in
the past six years has been only 7.6 percent, Holton said. For other
languages, it varies from 1 percent to 40 percent.
Although Ventura County isn’t seeing a shortage of interpreters,
across the state, it’s a different story. The supply hovers just
above 1,600, and demand is on the rise as the state’s limited-English
population grows, according to the Judicial Council, which certifies
and registers interpreters.
Seven court interpreters work in the Ventura County judicial system,
including two sign-language interpreters.
The statewide shortage – and a recent strike by interpreters in Los
Angeles, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties – has raised
awareness about the mental agility that translators must possess to
do their jobs.
During the proceedings involving the Alcantars, prosecutor Melissa
Suttner tells Fermin Alcantar that he is entering a guilty plea for
attempted murder against his wife, Nancy Alcantar.
"That happened, but I didn’t know what I was doing," Fermin Alcantar
said in Spanish. "It was an emotional moment."
He pleads guilty and admits to using a deadly weapon and causing
great bodily harm.
Services used 16,700 times
Court interpreter services are provided in criminal, misdemeanor
and juvenile delinquency cases, and in certain kinds of civil cases,
such as divorce or child custody, according to state officials.
In Ventura County during the first six months of this year,
interpreters have been used in more than 16,700 instances in civil
and criminal cases, according to county figures.
During that period, interpreters were used more than 180 times for
languages other than Spanish, such as Mandarin, Korean, Armenian,
Vietnamese and Tagalog, county records show.
Jason Redmond / Star staff Court interpreters, from left, Amy
Hovanessian and Linda Evans chat with attorney Victor Salas and Deputy
District Attorney Melissa Suttner in court in Ventura.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, people in California speak 200
languages at last count, making it the most linguistically diverse
state. Many California residents are foreign-born – 26 percent of
its 34 million people.
In Ventura County, 12.4 percent, or 162,103 residents, are
foreign-born. Thirty-four percent, or 251,716 people, speak a language
other than English at home.
The cost for interpreter services in state courts alone is high. For
fiscal year 2007-08, the budget is $90.3 million, according to Holton.
The starting salary for a full-time court interpreter in Ventura
County is $73,445. Salary levels are different in other counties.
Independent interpreters hired by the county are paid $282 a day,
or $156 for half a day, said Robert Sherman, assistant executive
officer for the county’s courts. That figure is set by the state and
is the same in all counties.
Demanding higher pay, interpreters represented by the California
Federation of Interpreters union went on strike Sept. 5 in Los Angeles,
Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. The strike does not extend
to Ventura County, where court interpreters are represented by the
Service Employees International Union.
The strike is having little impact in Los Angeles County courtrooms,
according to Allan Parachini, spokesman for Los Angeles Superior Court.
Hearings and trials have been postponed, and other legal proceedings
have been rearranged, he said, but no court cases have been
dismissed. "It’s going surprisingly well."
Interpreters who didn’t strike are being used, and others are being
hired as independent contractors, he said.
Los Angeles has 257 full-time interpreters. Seventeen work part
time. An additional 125 interpreters are used as needed, Parachini
said.
Profanities need translation
Interpreters say they face special challenges in their work.
Words, including profanities, must be translated by interpreters
exactly as they are said in court. Isaac jokes that they must be
"trilingual" – knowing English, Spanish and profanities.
As part of a continuing education program, Isaac received training
in translating curse words of different Spanish-speaking countries.
Interpreters are forbidden to clean up the language, including
off-color words, because jurors make judgments about the honesty and
credibility of witnesses based on their testimony, according to Isaac.
Interpreters must keep up on the latest technical words and volumes
of legal terms.
Then there are idiomatic expressions.
"They say words don’t have meanings – meanings have words," said
Rebecca Rubenstein, an independent interpreter. "An idea in English
that’s expressed might not have an exact equivalent in Spanish … so
you just have to find the closest word that displays what the person
has said."
Phrases like "It’s raining cats and dogs," for instance, can’t be
translated verbatim because they wouldn’t make sense, Isaac said. In
Spanish, she said, one would say, "It is raining pitchers full."
"We are always talking about words. How would you say this? How
would you say that?" Rubenstein said. "I have 50 Spanish-language
dictionaries at home to help me find the meanings of different words."