Reporter vs. Interpreter, the KNOCKOUT FIGHT!

I generally avoid taking depositions where the witness is testifying through a translator for several reasons; they're slow, the witness sometimes speaks English and ultimately ends up testifying on their own, the interpreter's accent is so thick THEY actually need an interpreter, and the most obvious -- when the reporter speaks the foreign language, it gets annoying to hear the choppy translation or the interpreter paraphrasing the witness' testimony.

Well, here's my tale: I was assigned a deposition with a witness testifying through a Spanish translator. Immediately I groaned since I happen to speak fluent Spanish. There's an interpreter named "Maria" who regularly makes the rounds in NYC as the interpreter of choice because of her availability. I guess she lives close by and can get wherever she's needed quickly.  "Maria" introduced herself to me a few years back, telling me she was a paralegal in a former life and even taught a class in paralegal studies. Whenever I see her, I smile or wave and leave it at that. Other reporters have told me she's a terror to work with. I never knew why, but I heard she routinely admonishes the witensses in Spanish before we're on the record that they should wait for her translation before they answer. It's odd to me because this is an instruction given by the attorney in their opening ramble.

This deposition I had with her last Wednesday was a little different, because in addition to being loud, interrupting the attorney to say their question doesn't translate smoothly the way it was asked, emphasizing translated words like "before" and "after" so as to prevent any confusion the witness might have, she also would engage in long colloquialisms with the witness after the question was answered, and what was spoken in Spanish by the witness was NOT what made it onto the record. It was watching a Kung-Fu movie from the '70s where you'd see the actor's mouth moving with totally different words coming out. At first, it was a little irritating for me to be inclined to want to write the answer as I'd anticipated it would be, but when the witness testified in her native language "A-B-C" and the answer was "D-E-F," I requested a recess so I could say something to the questioning attorney.

During recess, I mentioned this to Counsel: "I'm not getting involved in any way, shape, or form, but I think the interpreter knows the witness because she's totally coaching him into giving you answers that will make his case sound better. She's changing his answers, repeating things out of turn, and leaving stuff out. I'm only telling you since I speak fluent Spanish and I know you don't."  Counsel thanked me for the heads up and assured me my anonymity would be protected in the event it was mentioned.

We're back on the record, and the first statement out of Counsel's mouth is "During the break, I was advised by our court reporter that the interpretation is inaccurate." I immediately took my hands off my writer and scowled at this attorney like I wanted to kill her. Then the war began. "Maria" looked at me and very nastily exclaimed "You don't know what you're talking about! I'm performing my function as a sworn translator. You have no right to open your mouth!" I very discreetly mentioned one specific answer where "Maria"  didn't translate how the witness said he thought the light was green because I very clearly heard it in Spanish, and "Maria's" response was appalling to everyone in the room. "You're a liar! He didn't say that! Don't tell me how to do my job!" After a small back and forth between us (which I regret engaging in) "Maria" asked for my business card so she could call my boss and have me "fired" for sticking my nose where it didn't belong. 

Here I am getting yelled at by some overzealous translator who thinks she's Gloria Allred, and the two attorneys in the room, particularly the one who hired me, just sat there stonefaced while I continued to remain a lady. (For the record, I am a gay man.) Counsel told "Maria" to relax and refrain from being so unprofessional, and the last thing "Maria" said to me was "You need to mind your business, you little f*ggot!" before getting up and storming out of the room. Again, I maintained my composure under the circumstances. Counsel apologized for everything, saying she'd bust the deposition due to the translator's inaccuracies. Counsel said she herself had a hunch things weren't going well when the witness said something through "Maria's" translation that didn't make sense. Counsel assured me she'd vouch for me in the event "Maria" decided to call my agency, but much to everyone's surprise, I said I wasn't worried about that because the business card I handed "Maria" contained my cell phone number and not that of my agency.

My only hope is she calls me so I can ask her if she'd like to mop a f*ggot's kitchen floor Saturday morning.

Pwreu, your encounter with this interpreter is an example of bizarro depos that cross our paths in this job. 

That the attorney brought you into the fray on the record is not unusual.  I feel you could have avoided it by not saying anything at all, but I'm sure you realize that now.   

Her slur was outrageous.  Did she return after her hissy fit or did the depo bust after all?

By the way, you do have great stories.  I look forward to reading more of them.

Sounds like she's just a joy to work with, and the deposition must have been the highlight of your week.  However, as reporters, we are "impartial" to both parties.  Your talking to the attorney took away your impartiality.  Whether you know Spanish or not, it is not your place to comment on any of the translation.  That's why they call us the "silent keepers of the record".  We take down the words and don't interrupt unless we can't hear what someone said.  Many times during interpreted depositions, an attorney will bring a paralegal or someone from their office so they can let the attorney know if the translation is not good, but that's never our place. 

I have a question for fstfngs and pinksteno, I know we are supposed to be impartial, but since he did know the Spanish language, wouldn't it be his duty to notify both attorneys at the same time, perhaps on the record?  I only ask because I know there is a (I think it's a California code) that as reporters, if we feel the witness is not able to understand and answer questions, we are supposed to stop the deposition. 

pwreu, how disgusting that she called you a "faggot."  How ignorant.  I would probably call her agency and tell them about the remark she made to you, if you have it on a recording, even better.

In California, we place the interpreters under oath to accurately translate "to the best of their ability."  Is that not done elsewhere?  An interpreter would be under oath not to change the witness's testimony.  However, many times I've had an interpreter explain on the record that they are translating a word a certain way for a reason.  Once a witness kept referring to a lump on her breast by a word that means "yam" when translated literally; another time, the witness kept calling his foot by a word meaning "hoof." (A common practice in rural Mexico, according to the interpreter.)  But there's a difference between translating as best they can and actually changing the meaning of the testimony!  That sounds like a bad situation you ran into... 99 percent of the interpreters I've worked with out here have been total professionals!

I am so sorry that happened to you.  People are disgusting and never cease to amaze me.  Although I do agree with fstfngers that we are supposed to be impartial to both parties, I can understand your frustration with hearing testimony being completely altered by a poor interpretation job.  If I did feel the urge to say something to my hiring attorney, I'd make sure the other attorney was present also so that they could come to a resolution together and try to keep your name out of the record.

I had an instance where something similar happened to me.  I was taking a deposition of an individual who is a native of Haiti and literally did not speak a word of English.  I had to keep asking him to repeat his answers in English, because the stupid attorney didn't request a translator.  Luckily, the attorney who hired me discontinued the deposition after seeing me struggle, but thankfully didn't put it on the record that we were rescheduling because of my difficulty understanding. 

I've also had cases where I'm doing a phone deposition and the doctor is inaudible, and I'm literally yelling at him/her to take me off of speakerphone or call in on a different line, hoping that the attorneys won't put something on the record about my attitude or unability to hear the doctor.  It's a very stressful job where it's like we're magicians and people expect miracles, and we're also trying to cover our own butts by keeping a clear record and our name out of it.

I hope the interpreter doesn't contact your office, and that you have better luck in your future jobs.  I work in New York as well and I know how stressful a lot of these jobs can be, especially with poor interpreters and horrible attorneys.  I've had very unprofessional interpreters on jobs as well, and I've also had attorneys speak the fluent language of a witness and disagree with the interpreter's interpretation and freak out.  We see it all, don't we?