Opinion ID: 2279262
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Court's Findings

Text: At the outset, the trial court declared that complexities are involved when cultural differences come into play, but emphasized that the issue at the hearing was a much narrower one, namely, whether appellant qualified as a non-English speaking person within the meaning of the Interpreter Act. The court found that Officer LeBlanc's testimony was critical in this respect: [H]is interaction with the defendant including the booking process, indicated to him that the defendant was able to speak to him in English and to understand his questions in English. . . . [I]f you look at the statement given by Mr. Torres, there was a level of communication where Mr. Torres was being asked questions by Officer LeBlanc and being recorded by Officer Vernelli that indicate that Mr. Torres was able to understand more than just his name, someone asking him [his] name or his address, which are clearly things that a person might be able to respond to having been in the country only a very short time to appreciate the words, name and address, telephone number. These were complete sentences inquiring of subject matter, and Mr. Torres' responses were given in English, not in Spanish, to Officer LeBlanc, who indicated that he really doesn't have anything but almost a less than rudimentary knowledge of Spanish. The court also found it significant that appellant was able to communicate effectively to Officer LeBlanc his concern for the tools found in the trunk of the car that he was driving on July 24. Nothing in appellant's interactions with the officer indicated to the court that he was unable to understand or communicate with the police. [10] The court credited Ms. Obobi's testimony only in part, finding that her statements showed that she and appellant had communicated with each other in broken English ever since their first meeting four years earlier and that they continued to communicate primarily in English. The court also discounted the testimony of Mr. Cooper and Ms. Corley from the Pretrial Services Agency because language skills can sometimes improve over time, and because their interviews and discussions with appellant occurred some time after his arrest. After summarizing its factual findings, the court ruled that the government had carried its burden of proving that appellant did not qualify as a non-English speaking person. Therefore, the court concluded, appellant had no need for the services of an interpreter during either of his interviews at the police station.