Garcia v. State

• Decision Date: 24 March 2004
• Docket Number: No. 489-03.,489-03.
• Citation: 149 S.W.3d 135
• Parties: Jose Medrano GARCIA, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas.
• Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals

149 S.W.3d 135

Jose Medrano GARCIA, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas.

No. 489-03.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas.

March 24, 2004.

John J. Davis, Angleton, for Appellant.

Jeffrey D. Kyle, Asst. DA, Angleton, Matthew Paul, State's Attorney, Austin, for State.

OPINION

KEASLER, J., delivered the opinion of the Court joined by MEYERS, PRICE, WOMACK, JOHNSON, HERVEY, HOLCOMB, and COCHRAN, JJ.

Jose Medrano Garcia does not speak English. His jury trial had mostly English-speaking witnesses and court personnel, and the proceedings were not translated. He did not affirmatively waive his right to translation and was apparently unaware of that right. We must decide whether Garcia's conviction violates the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. We conclude that it does.

Facts and Procedural History

Garcia was born in Matehuala, Mexico, and attended school there through the ninth grade. He eventually came to the United States with a "green card." He does not speak, read, or write English to any appreciable degree.

In January 2001, Garcia was introduced to the American legal system when he was charged with a sexual assault that had occurred several months earlier. He pleaded not guilty, was released on bond, and hired attorney Ken Bishop to help him maneuver through the system. Bishop spoke no Spanish, so the two communicated solely through Bishop's bilingual legal assistant, Herminia Montoya.

Pretrial

That summer, proceedings began with a pretrial hearing on July 23, 2001. The hearing encompassed pretrial motions as well as voir dire issues. The court reporter's record reflects that Aida Aluizo was "duly sworn as English/Spanish interpreter by Deputy District Clerk" for that hearing. The clerk's record also contains a document, dated July 23, 2001, in which Aluizo swears that she "will truly interpret for the witness, Joe Medrano Garcia, the testimony for which he/she may give in the cause now on trial."

During voir dire, defense counsel prepared the panel for the presence of an interpreter during the trial. He told them that Garcia "doesn't speak English, so we've got some interpreters here." He asked if that might matter to anyone. One venireperson asked whether Garcia was a United States citizen, and counsel responded, "I think that—he's not a citizen, but he's here on what we call a, `Green Card' legally."

Regarding Garcia's testifying, defense counsel told the panel that Garcia did not have to testify, but that he would: "I can tell you right now that Mr. Garcia is going to testify. He wants to testify, to tell you his version of this incident, so you will be hearing from him. Now it will be through a translator. So this is one reason I asked the question a little bit earlier and mentioned about the method by which we're going to do it because he's just not quite fluent enough in English to be able to understand the questions possibly and/or respond without having a translator...."

Trial

Trial began the next day. There is no mention in either the court reporter's record or the clerk's record of an interpreter translating the testimony throughout the trial. After the indictment was read and the court asked how the defendant would plead, Garcia did not answer. Defense counsel responded, "Not guilty, Your Honor."

The court then introduced Montoya to the jury as defense counsel's legal assistant. The judge said, "She translates pretty frequently in the courts, so she's hired by the Court."

The State presented testimony from seven witnesses. Most relevant to the issue before us today was the testimony of the complainant, the complainant's mother, and the police officer. The complainant, Erica Mendoza, testified that she is Garcia's cousin. She said that Garcia had asked her to go to the unemployment office with him so that she could translate for him. She agreed to do so, but when he came over, she said she would not be able to go after all. It was then, she said, that he sexually assaulted her.

Mendoza's mother, Rosalina Seladon, testified later, and the court reporter's record reflects that she "testified through the duly sworn interpreter." There were some breaks during her testimony at which point there were "discussion[s] between interpreter and witness in Spanish." The judge eventually instructed Aluizo to "wait until the witness is through speaking" before translating. The "clerk's worksheet" in the clerk's record reflects that, during the testimony of "Angelina Celedon" (who is apparently the same person as Rosalina Seladon), "[Aluizo] translated for her."

The police officer who served the arrest warrant on Garcia testified. During cross-examination defense counsel asked the officer if he was "aware that Jose Garcia only spoke Spanish?" The officer responded, "I [was] told that, but from speaking to him I could tell that he could speak a little English."

The defense presented the testimony of the complainant and Garcia. The court reporter's record reflects that Garcia was sworn in "through the interpreter" and testified "through the duly sworn interpreter." He testified that he did not assault Mendoza; instead, she approached him and consented to sexual contact between them.

When the prosecutor cross-examined Garcia and asked if he had heard his attorney questioning the victim, Garcia replied, "No, because I don't understand a lot of English." On re-direct, defense counsel asked if Garcia had understood all of the questions that the prosecutor had asked him, and Garcia said, "I wasn't able to understand well, very well."

The jury found Garcia guilty of sexual assault, and the parties reached an agreement on punishment. There was some concern about whether the punishment agreement constituted a guilty plea, and the judge said, "Well, I think what I need to do is give him all the admonitions any way." So Garcia approached the bench and at that time Aluizo was "called as the Spanish/English interpreter for the defendant, having been duly sworn as the Spanish/English Interpreter on 7/23/01."

The agreement was that Garcia would serve eight years in prison and waive his right to appeal. The court then came to the sex offender registration requirements. The judge discussed having Aluizo "read those" to Garcia. He told defense counsel to "go over that" with Aluizo and "make sure he understands those and then I'll come back before you and then we'll finish the thing." The judge then said that "the record will reflect that the supplemental admonitions to defendant for sex offender registration requirements have been read by the translator...."

Motion for New Trial

Garcia filed a motion for new trial arguing that his waiver of appeal had not been knowing and voluntary because "his comprehension of the English language and American judicial system was insufficient." He also claimed that he received ineffective assistance of counsel at trial, and he claimed generally that the verdict was contrary to the law and the evidence. A hearing was held on the motion on September 28, 2001.

At the hearing, Garcia's sister-in-law testified that Garcia does not speak English.

Aluizo testified that she was sworn in as the interpreter for this case. But she was not called upon to interpret the English-speaking testimony for Garcia. Rather, she interpreted Garcia's Spanish testimony for the jury. When asked why she did not simultaneously interpret the testimony for Garcia, she said, "I don't—I don't really remember why I didn't sit beside him. Normally I do. I sat at the probation table by the counselor table and—but I really don't know why I didn't sit beside him. I did tell [Montoya], Mr. Bishop's secretary, that normally I would sit beside the Defendant and I don't recall what she responded to me and, so, I just sat, you know, on the side table." She did not see Montoya interpreting for Garcia. And during punishment, she never translated what an appeal was, its importance, or possible appellate issues.

Montoya testified that Garcia always spoke Spanish and Bishop spoke English so she translated for them. But she did not perform any type of interpretation for Garcia during the trial. She sat in between Garcia and Bishop. Nobody instructed her to translate the witnesses' testimony for Garcia. She didn't do it because she was "afraid that I would be called down; and I didn't want to be called down." She was afraid a translation would disrupt the proceedings. Nobody else translated for Garcia. Before this case she had never been called upon to sit during a trial and give an ongoing translation, and she was not sworn in as an interpreter in this case. Garcia did not realize that he had been found guilty until they left the courtroom. Montoya told him he had been found guilty in the stairway outside the courtroom, and he was surprised and shocked.

Bishop testified that he speaks very little Spanish and Garcia speaks even less English. They had an interpreter every time they spoke. There was no translation by Montoya during trial. Bishop never advised Garcia that he had a right to an interpreter. Garcia could not understand the victim's testimony and therefore could not assist Bishop. Garcia did not understand that he had been found guilty until after the trial. Bishop never explained to Garcia what an appeal was. On cross-examination, Bishop admitted that Montoya had sat in between him and Garcia, and he could have asked her a question to ask Garcia, but he did not avail himself of this. He admitted that he never objected to the court or requested a translation for Garcia.

Garcia testified with the aid of an interpreter. The "clerk's worksheet" for the motion for new trial hearing states, "Rosario Rivera Interpreter," and states, "Presario Rivera translating to Defen." Garcia testified that nobody translated the trial for him and he did not understand any of the English testimony. He had no idea that he had a right to a translator and never told anyone that he did not...