Opinion ID: 706030
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: admission of expert translation testimony

Text: 46 Mr. Gomez next contends that the district court erred in allowing Dennis Nordfelt to testify as an expert witness in Spanish/English translation. Mr. Nordfelt was a college student working part time for the Weber/Morgan Narcotics Strike Force during the investigation in this case and he assisted in translating the recorded conversations, portions of which were in Spanish. At trial, the government called Mr. Nordfelt as a witness through whom the transcribed conversations were admitted into evidence. He was neither offered by the government as an expert nor was he certified by the court as an expert in Spanish language. 47 Assuming that Mr. Nordfelt's testimony could properly be cast as that of an expert, Mr. Gomez did not object at trial to the admission of the expert testimony and, therefore, the issue is not properly before this court. See United States v. Lira-Arredondo, 38 F.3d 531, 533 n. 2 (10th Cir.1994). While we could review for plain error, see United States v. Markum, 4 F.3d 891, 896 (10th Cir.1993), we decline to do so here because the argument is so lacking in merit. See Olano, 507 U.S. at ----, 113 S.Ct. at 1778 (Rule 52(b) is permissive, not mandatory.). 48 The district court's acceptance of an expert's qualifications will be disturbed only for a clear abuse of discretion, United States v. Davis, 40 F.3d 1069, 1075 (10th Cir.1994), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 115 S.Ct. 1387, 131 L.Ed.2d 239 (1995), and the court's discretion in determining the competency of an expert is broad. Markum, 4 F.3d at 896 (citing Quinton v. Farmland Indus., 928 F.2d 335, 336 (10th Cir.1991)). 49 Prior to trial, Mr. Nordfelt received a degree with a minor in Spanish from Weber State University. Additionally, he served a 23-month religious mission in South America where he developed his comprehension of the Spanish language. The trial court clearly could have found Mr. Nordfelt's qualifications sufficient to satisfy the liberal standard under Fed.R.Evid. 702 regarding expert qualifications, see Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., --- U.S. ----, ----, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 2794, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993) (noting liberal thrust of Federal Rules of Evidence), and admission of such testimony would not constitute an abuse of discretion. See United States v. Brown, 540 F.2d 1048, 1053-54 (10th Cir.1976), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 1100, 97 S.Ct. 1122, 51 L.Ed.2d 549 (1977); see also Fed.R.Evid. 604 (interpreter as witness subject to qualification as expert). Finding no error, plain error review is not warranted. Olano, 507 U.S. at ----, 113 S.Ct. at 1777.