Court Opinion

ID: 9675339
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 04:49:45.800486+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:33.488000
License: Public Domain

TEAGUE, Judge,
concurring.
Contrary to the holding by the court of appeals, see Leal v. State, 711 S.W.2d 702, 709 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1986), that “We do not believe a tape recording is rendered inadmissible merely because the conversation is spoken in a foreign language,” which this Court adopts, (page 849, majority opinion), “All persons are charged with notice that for crimes committed against the laws of this State, the trial will be conducted in the English language and that for non-English-speaking witnesses the law has made provision for the translation of their testimony by interpreters into the English lan-guage_” Garcia v. State, 151 Tex. Crim. 593, 210 S.W.2d 574, 580 (1948). Also see Livar v. State, 26 Tex.App. 115, 9 S.W. 552 (Ct.App.1888). It was not until the Legislature enacted the provisions of Art, 38.30, V.A.C.C.P., effective January 1, 1966, that an accused non-English speaking person, on motion, had the right to have an interpreter to interpret the proceedings for him. See Ex parte Nanes, 558 S.W.2d 893 (Tex.Cr.App.1977).
Thus, whether a State’s witness, who cannot speak the English language, is tendered as a witness, or whether the witness is going to interpret a document or recording from one foreign language to the English language, before such testimony or evidence becomes admissible, on motion of the defendant, it is necessary that the trial court obtain the services of a qualified interpreter, other than counsel, to interpret the matter for the defendant. In this instance, the complained about tape recording was improperly admitted into evidence because it had not been interpreted or translated from Spanish to English by a qualified, sworn interpreter. It amounts to no evidence.
Although the majority opinion correctly holds that the error was not harmless, i.e., there is not a reasonable doubt that the error made no contribution to the conviction, see Rule 81(b)(2), Rules of Appellate Procedure, I find that the kind of error that occurred in this cause is so fundamental that the harmless error doctrine is inapplicable to this kind of error.
Without being able to consider the accuracy of the tape recording, the tape recording amounts to no evidence. Thus, the judgment of this Court should read that it is reversing the judgment of the court of appeals and remanding the cause to the trial court for that court to enter judgments of acquittal on behalf of each appellant.