Public Defense

Defendant Failed to Demonstrate He Was Prejudiced by Poor Translation at Trial

• speaking when the witness had said nothing;
  
• listening while the attorneys spoke but not interpreting for the witness;
• engaged in un-translated discussions with the witnesses;
• summarizing testimony rather than precisely translating.

"We conclude that the court did not err in refusing to strike the testimony of the victim in question based upon the alleged inaccuracies in the second interpreter's translation. Although defendant established that there were some errors in that translation, he failed to establish that he "was prejudiced by those errors" (People v Dat Pham, 283 AD2d 952, lv denied 96 NY2d 900; see People v Restivo, 226 AD2d 1106, 1107, lv denied 88 NY2d 883). In any event, the record establishes that any errors were corrected either through objections made by defense counsel that were sustained by the court, or through defense counsel's cross-examination of the victim using the third and fourth interpreters (see Restivo, 226 AD2d at 1107)."