Language Barrier Issues Derail Justice in Colorado

Confession of Accused Felon Thrown Out Due to Language Barrier

Due to a mistranslated Miranda warning, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday that prosecutors could not use incriminating statements against Dagoberto Aguilar-Ramos, who was charged with kidnapping and sexual assault in 2002.

“How many more judicial proceedings will have to be tossed out before we address the root cause of the problem – limited English proficiency?” asked Mauro E. Mujica, Chairman of U.S. English. “With 1-in-9 residents of our diverse nation hailing from other countries, our government must set a language policy that benefits all Americans.”

In addition to holding that the defendant, an illegal immigrant from Mexico with only three years of schooling, had not understood his Miranda rights, the Colorado Supreme Court found that the inability to communicate effectively had hindered the discussion. In speaking of the conversation between the non-English proficient defendant and the limited Spanish speaking officer, the court said, “throughout the interrogation, it is evident from the disjointed nature of the questions and answers that each party frequently had no idea what the other was talking about.”

The officer, using Spanish learned in high school, was cited for several mistakes during the interrogation, including telling Aguilar-Ramos that he had the “right to carry silent,” instead of the right to remain silent. Furthermore, the detective used the word “designar” in informing the defendant of the right to counsel, which can mean “to appoint” or “to design” in Spanish. Even though Aguilar-Ramos was given a printed Miranda rights form in Spanish and indicated that he understood it at least three times, the officer’s limited Spanish proficiency was found to have “rendered him unable to effectively communicate” with the defendant.

“This case also illustrates how the recent trend toward offering Spanish classes for police officers can backfire,” said Mujica, who is fluent in four languages. “These occurrences are not taking place only in Colorado, but in more than 300 languages across the nation. In situations with serious consequences, translating should be left to the qualified, not to those who have picked up a few choice words. As with any skill, minimal knowledge can be quite dangerous when applied in a high-stakes situation.

“More important, we must determine how best to control our borders and help legal immigrants learn the language. Our nation’s future, and the future success of all immigrants depends on our ability to communicate in our common language – English.”

U.S. English, Inc. is the nation's oldest and largest non-partisan citizens' action group dedicated to preserving the unifying role of the English language in the United States. Founded in 1983 by the late Sen. S.I. Hayakawa of California, U.S. English, Inc. (www.usenglish.org) now has more than 1.8 million members.