Interpreters in demand in courtrooms, hospitals

Seven Hispanic men lumbered up to Judge John Heisserer's bench Monday afternoon, each handcuffed and shackled in chains. With them was their court-appointed public defender, and Joseph A. DeLuca -- an interpreter.

None of the seven defendants speaks English, so the Office of Courts Administration provided DeLuca to explain to them, in Spanish, that the judge was carrying their cases over until Nov. 29. He also asked on Heisserer's behalf of they had any questions for the judge.

It was a short appearance, an arraignment on charges stemming from the Sept. 15 drug raid at the Holiday Lodge, 1918 N. Kingshighway. DeLuca said he was there to make sure the men understood what was happening.

Their attorney, Bryan Keller, was also speaking to them in Spanish, and DeLuca said it's the first time he's encountered a Spanish-speaking attorney. Still there is a need for his services during the proceedings. Keller can represent the defendants, but it's impractical for him to translate for them as well. Being in court is stressful in one's own language, DeLuca said. It's worse when you don't understand what's being said.

"I feel good about letting them know what's happening and letting them say their part about what happened," he said. "Sometimes these guys don't understand the system, they don't know what a Miranda warning is."

DeLuca is not a lawyer. He is a retired Spanish teacher who is now an independent contractor with the International Institute of St. Louis, an organization that helps foreign-born residents acclimate to American culture. He interprets not only in court, but at hospitals, doctors' offices, schools, social service agency offices -- anywhere he is needed to translate from English to Spanish and back again.

Getting it right

He said he attended workshops to learn legal and medical terminology and passed exams before he could go to work in those venues. Most of the time in court, he said, judges and attorneys will speak clearly so he can translate easily.

"If they want to be difficult, they will use 'lawyerese,' which is difficult to interpret," he said. "But if I am not sure I will ask the judge for the opportunity to ask questions."

DeLuca said the growing number of Hispanics moving into the country has created a demand for interpreters. Interpreting has been an interesting experience, he said.

"It has taken me places I never would have gone before -- operating rooms, hospitals, courtrooms, people's homes, sometimes a more formal setting," he said.

Interpreting jobs for him have included not only interpreting for the seven men in Cape Girardeau County jail faced with felony drug charges, but being able to tell a frightened patient that his medical condition is not as bad as he had feared.

"The worst cases are telling a woman she's being accused of neglecting their child and the state is going to take her kids away from her," he said. "That's a hard thing to say to a woman. It's a sad thing."

Probably the most unusual setting he's ever worked in, he said, was the mental hospital at Farmington where he translated for sex offenders who were getting therapy. Not only was the vocabulary interesting, he said, but the experience of being in a high-security atmosphere was unsettling.

"I did not ever think I would be going to prison," he said.

DeLuca said he once accompanied a St. Louis police officer to a home of a Spanish-speaking woman whose relative had been kidnapped.

"For some reason they thought she might have a gun," he said. "I felt awkward going in first. But the police officer couldn't speak to her; I had to say, 'this is the police.'"

DeLuca retired after teaching Spanish for 28 years at Parkway West High School in St. Louis County.

"I wanted to do something that would use my skills," he said. "So I contacted the International Institute and they said they needed interpreters."

DeLuca is not a native Spanish speaker, although he says he's close to it. He was born and raised in St. Louis, but has studied and lived in Spanish-speaking countries. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in Latin American studies and a bachelor of science in education from Truman University and a master's degree in Spanish from the University of Missouri. He has lived and studied in Chile, Argentina, Ecuador and Costa Rica.

lredeffer@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160