Opinion ID: 457766
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Prosecutor's Correction of the Interpreter's Translation.

Text: 8 During direct examination of government witness Pedro Astello, Pedro was asked how long he was in the truck on the trip to Gillham, Arkansas. The transcript of this and what followed is set forth below: 9 Q. About how long were you in the back of the truck?A. About two hours, two. 10 Q. About how long? 11 A. About two hours. 12 Mr. Webb: Your honor, I think the witness is saying twelve, but I believe the interpreter is saying two. 13 Trial Transcript at 24. At that point the defense moved for a mistrial, alleging that the prosecutor's comment had so prejudiced the jury that a fair trial could not be had. The trial court denied the motion for a mistrial, but did instruct the jury to disregard the prosecutor's comment regarding the accuracy of the translation. On appeal, plaintiffs contend that the trial court erred in its failure to grant a mistrial for the prosecutor's misconduct. 14 The grant of a mistrial for prosecutorial misconduct is appropriate if the conduct complained of is so prejudicial that the defendant is deprived of a fair trial. The grant or denial of a motion for mistrial is placed in the sound discretion of the district court and may only be reversed on a showing of abuse of discretion. United States v. Krevsky, 741 F.2d 1090, 1094 (8th Cir.1984). While we agree that the prosecutor's attempt, in the presence and hearing of the jury, to correct the interpreter's translation was improper, in the circumstances of this case we find no abuse of discretion in the District Court's refusal to grant a mistrial. An immediate objection was lodged and the District Court promptly instructed the jury to disregard the prosecutor's comment. The prosecutor did not attempt any similar correction during the remainder of the trial. Moreover, the defendants were not prejudiced by the attempted correction, because the government's case did not rest solely on that part of Pedro's testimony. Several questions later in his testimony, he stated (through the interpreter) that the trip to Gillham took twelve hours. Trial Transcript at 28. His brother, Rufino, also testified that the trip to Arkansas required twelve hours, and Homero Gonzales testified that the Barfields came to pick up the Astellos under circumstances that strongly indicate that they knew they were transporting illegal aliens. The Astellos also implicated Powell in the scheme, through his prior dealings with the Astellos and his actions at the time the Astellos arrived in Arkansas and thereafter. Given this strong evidence of guilt, it is clear that a single instance of improper comment by the prosecutor, for which a cautionary instruction was promptly given, did not deprive the defendants of a fair trial.