Opinion ID: 2525859
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Inaccuracies made during trial by court-appointed interpreter

Text: On appeal, Sonny argues that he was convicted after the court-appointed interpreter mistranslated his trial testimony. [1] Sonny claims that the inaccuracies in translation materially altered his testimony and his right to a fair trial under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. We disagree. In Nevada, criminal defendants who do not understand the English language have a due process right to an interpreter at all crucial stages of the criminal process. Ton v. State, 110 Nev. 970, 971, 878 P.2d 986, 987 (1994). When we review the translation of testimony, we consider whether the translation was adequate and accurate in its entirety. Baltazar-Monterrosa v. State, 122 Nev. 606, 614, 137 P.3d 1137, 1142 (2006). We have not previously considered under what standard the adequacy of an interpreter's performance will be reviewed when translation errors are discovered post-judgment nor have we considered the prejudice that must be shown when fundamental translation errors have been discovered. In Baltazar-Monterrosa v. State , we declared the standard for judicial review of the admissibility of disputed translated statements made by a defendant to police. 122 Nev. at 616-17, 137 P.3d at 1144. We clarified in Baltazar-Monterrosa that while interpreters are not required to perform word-for-word interpretations, errors that fundamentally alter the defendant's statements or the context of the statements will render the interpretation inadequate. Id. at 614-17, 137 P.3d at 1142-44. We adopted a three-step procedure for courts and parties to follow when a defendant objects to the admissibility of translated statements, alleging inaccuracies in the translation. Id. at 609-10, 616-17, 137 P.3d at 1139, 1144. Today we adopt similar procedures that will allow a defendant who discovers interpreter inaccuracies in the translation of trial testimony to file a post-trial motion to challenge the alleged inaccuracies made by the court-appointed interpreter. If there is a challenge to the interpreter's translation of the trial testimony, the challenging party should either move for a new trial under NRS 176.515 if the translation inaccuracies are discovered within the applicable time frame or, in the alternative, move to modify or correct the trial record on appeal pursuant to NRAP 10(c). [2]