The court system can be difficult enough to understand for people with no legal experience.
Imagine how fast and far that confusion would grow if you didn’t speak English.
A team of interpreters fans out across the Terry R. Harris Judicial Complex almost every weekday, bringing help to people with “limited English proficiency” and keeping about 40 district, county and magistrate courtrooms running smoothly.
The 4th Judicial District, which includes El Paso and Teller counties, has one of the busiest Court Interpreter Programs in the state.
“It makes things run faster and smoother and gives us (judges) more confidence that people know what’s going on,” said District Judge Gilbert Martinez.
Martinez has watched interpreting services here grow from a hodge podge of people with questionable — or even unknown — skills filling in haphazardly to a professionally run program that uses certified interpreters and improved technology.
Courthouse Administrator Victoria Villalobos said program manager Tess Saenz, who was hired in 2004, has a lot to do with that.
“The difference in the system now is so huge, I honestly have trouble going back to what it was like, and I don’t want to,” Villalobos said.
“The level of professionalism has gone up incredibly,” Saenz said.
One of the first things Saenz did was buy sets of transmitters so one or more people can wear earpieces and listen to an interpreter speaking through a microphone elsewhere in the courtroom. That eliminated the need to have multiple interpreters working with several defendants or other people involved in a case.
Spanish is the most common language interpreted, with Korean second, Saenz said.
The office has four certified interpreters on contract – Saenz is the only full-time employee. They handle an average of 30 court hearings a day and interpret not only for defendants, but for victims, witnesses and parents of juveniles.
Colorado law mandates that the court shall provide, and pay for, interpreters in all felony, misdemeanor and misdemeanor traffic cases, as well as others such as dependency and neglect cases, for those who don’t understand English.
Interpreters follow a strict code of ethics that specify they can’t give any legal advice or even explain the law to people.
“It’s up to their attorneys to explain things,” Saenz said. “We absolutely cannot provide an explanation at all.”
And it’s not just a matter of being able to speak and understand a foreign language.
Court interpreters often read police or expert reports in advance so they’re familiar with legal, scientific or medical terminology. Saenz will often call a bilingual expert in the field to make sure she gets the pronunciation just right.
“Sometimes we prepare weeks in advance,” she said.
For longer hearings — like the homicide trial of an illegal immigrant accused of killing his Colorado Springs girlfriend that starts Monday — two interpreters are required.
“Research has shown that after a half an hour, mental fatigue sets in and you start to lose proficiency,” Saenz said.
While some believe no money should be spent on those in the country illegally, Saenz, Martinez and Villalobos said the legal system must be understood by those caught up in it.
“It’s a constitutional right for anyone facing loss of liberty,” Saenz said. “They have a right to understand the charges and what the process is.”
“People have to have faith in the court system,” Martinez said. “It only works if everyone in the system knows what’s going on. If they don’t, it’s not due process and it’s not fair.”
HOW MUCH THE STATE SPENDS ON INTERPRETER PROGRAMS
2004: $2,209,846
2005: $2,541,834
2006: $2,850,867
2007: $3,138,212
2008: $3,466,071
Source: Colorado Court Interpreter Program
THE BUDGET FOR THE 4TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT’S INTERPRETER PROGRAM
2004: $178,016
2005: $211,231
2006: $208,890
2007: $209,013
2008: $223,822
Source: Colorado Court Interpreter Program
Source: http://www.gazette.com
