Georgia court translators give voice to defendants
 

Carlos Lares spends his weekday mornings sitting in the almost empty jury box of Fulton County Superior Court, Room 4C. The judge calls out a list of defendants that district attorneys and public defenders punctuate with legal phrases. Those facing charges sit in the benches behind the attorneys, watching with confusion and standing only when their names are called.

Lares is not in court to listen to evidence. He is listening for foreign-sounding names. As the in-house court interpreter, Lares determines which of the day's cases require a translator. The court created his position six months ago, revealing a shift in how Georgia's judicial system handles non-English speakers.

"We used to grab anyone we could who would just speak Spanish," said Superior Court Judge Richard Hicks, who presides over Courtroom 4C. "We are way beyond that now."

As an increasing number of non-English speakers pass through the justice system, Georgia's courts are becoming more sensitive to problems they face. The state has taken steps to make sure translators are trained in court interpreting. In less than two years, Georgia has trained hundreds of translators.

But challenges remain for a court system that needs qualified translators daily. More than 751,000 people in Georgia, or about 10 percent of residents, speak a language other than English at home, according to the 2000 census. About half speak English "less than very well." These numbers have grown.

Using just any bilingual speaker not trained in court interpreting can create massive problems for the court system. A bungled translation can mean the difference between dismissal and conviction.

In one recent case, a victim robbed by three juveniles required a Spanish translator. While the victim testified about how she identified one assailant, the translator mixed up the gender of a crucial word. The interpreter asked her how many people she was shown in a lineup, rather than how many males she was shown, explained Marina Navia, a victims' advocate with the Fulton County district attorney. The resulting confusion contributed to the case's dismissal.

Navia says such mistakes are common. "How we describe hair or facial features in Spanish is different. It even varies from country to country," she said. She has seen plenty of mix-ups, including one interpreter who translated "hood" into "baseball cap."

To prevent such mistakes, the Georgia Supreme Court created the Commission on Interpreters for Non-English Speakers in October 2001. It requires courts to use translators who are "certified" by the commission and sets uniform standards for them. If certified translators aren't available, courts are to use interpreters "registered" by the commission.

Registered translators undergo 16 hours of orientation and training and must pass the commission's written and oral exams. Certified translators must take an additional hourlong exam conducted in two languages. The minimum passing score is 70 percent.

"The purpose of the program is to put non-English speakers at the same level" as native speakers, said Cristina Franco, the commission's program director.

Interpreters are paid about $40 to $50 an hour. To attract more interpreters to the registry, the commission paid half the training and testing fees until December. The process costs about $400.

The commission has trained more than 500 interpreters across the state. The bulk of those have been for Spanish, but the commission has trained interpreters in 17 other languages, too.

While 450 interpreters now have registered with the commission, only 30 are certified. So far, the only certified interpreters speak Spanish.

The degree of difficulty in the training illustrates that court interpreting requires more than just speaking two languages. Interpreters must make sure their translations are accurate. "You cannot edit or summarize," said Franco. Interpreters can't polish what defendants or witnesses say, simplify what judges say or offer explanations of the proceedings.

"It's for the defendant to say, 'Sorry, I don't understand,' " Franco said.

Not explaining to their confused client what's going on in court can be tough for translators. "You have to understand the reason you are there," said Lucinda Duperval Edkin, a Haitian Creole interpreter. "You can't choose sides, and you're not there to make friends."

All languages not covered While finding registered Spanish language interpreters is easier now, seeking qualified interpreters for other languages is still a challenge.

"If you speak a language no one has ever heard of, I'm sorry," Franco said. "Try not to commit crimes."

Demand for interpreters who speak a variety of languages is growing, according to Seilavong Doeung, director of Bridging the Gap. The nonprofit was formed in 1994 to provide services such as answering non-English 911 calls from metro Atlanta's refugee communities. Among the groups the nonprofit helps are Cambodians and Bosnians. As the demand for interpreters grew, courts began looking to Bridging the Gap because of its links to these communities, and the group began training bilingual speakers.

"We try to recruit the more well-spoken members of the community," said Doeung. He sees a growing demand for Portuguese speakers, as Atlanta's Brazilian community grows.

Phyllis Stallman, owner of Translation Station in Atlanta, receives requests for interpreters that speak many languages, from Vietnamese to Dinka, a Sudanese tribal language. Her agency's translators receive an orientation on court interpreting ethics.

While interpreters from these two agencies might be qualified, they are not necessarily registered. But courts cannot be picky about the qualifications of an interpreter who speaks the more exotic languages, as occurs in about 1 percent of court cases, Doeung said.

Franco estimates that 85 percent of cases that require an interpreter are still for Spanish.

The increased court exposure to cases requiring an interpreter has changed the legal system's approach in these cases.

"The courts are becoming pretty sensitive to the fact that people with less developed language skills are not as experienced in sophisticated terminology," said Stallman. "Hopefully judges will speak in a lower register."

Attorneys agree. "I think the biggest challenge is to convey to my client in the simplest terms what's going on," said Lolita Beyah, a staff attorney for Fulton County Conflict Defender, which assists in public defense. She says that when she deals with non-English-speaking clients, she makes sure they understand the proceedings. About 10 percent to 20 percent of her clients don't speak English.

Cultural barriers Stallman said she believes cultural barriers are a bigger problem than language barriers. Immigrants don't always understand the legal system. She has seen defendants plead not guilty to minor traffic violations. Rather than paying a small fine, they go to trial, which is time-consuming and could result in harsher punishment.

Fear of the legal system is a problem in some immigrant communities, especially those who come from authoritarian regimes.

"We noticed that there was so much crime that was never reported" in these groups, said Doeung. "We realized that it went deeper than language." Bridging the Gap has been working with these groups to train them to report crimes.

In Hispanic cultures, some societal differences pose a problem, Lares said.

Immigrants sometimes get in trouble here for crimes that are no big deal in their native countries. Drunken driving is one example.

"Enforcement is different," he said. "It's harder [in some Latin American countries] to be arrested for drunk driving, but here the police will respond immediately."

Navia said she has seen cases in which immigrant defendants believe that because they paid a bond, they are free to go. "They think they paid their way out," she said.

But they get a painful lesson when the police come looking for them after they don't show up on the trial date, she said.