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People v. Cardenas11/18/2002
ssist Cardenas in communications with his pro bono attorney.
When Cardenas entered his guilty plea, he was without the assistance of counsel. The only interpreter available to him in the guilty plea proceeding was a law enforcement employee . Recognizing a factual and legal basis for a possible withdrawal of the guilty plea, attorney Janet Zimmerman volunteered to represent Cardenas if she could have the services of a certified translator to help with privileged attorney-client communication. The county court permitted her general appearance but determined that it lacked authority to provide Cardenas and his pro bono counsel the services of an out-of courtroom interpreter.
Rather, the county court ruled that the public defender's office is obligated to represent indigent persons; that the county court cannot make a determination of indigency independent of the public defender's office; that defendant cannot choose his counsel and then require the court to pay for that attorney; and there is no legal authority requiring the court to furnish interpreters or other experts to assist an attorney in making a determination whether the attorney will represent a potential client.
When attorney Zimmerman sought to confer with Cardenas in the courthouse hallway, the judicial district's administrator rebuked Zimmerman through a letter which stated that "The Judicial Department pays for in-court language interpreting . . . . As a convenience to the interpreter and to eliminate additional tracking of time for a few minutes, a hallway plea bargain that interrupts court proceedings is also paid through mandated costs." (emphasis in original letter).
The Majority opinion states that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the services of an additional translator. See maj. op. at 1, 6. However, the county court did not reach the stage of exercising its discretion, because it ruled that it had no discretion to allow interpreter services at state expense, other than in-court translation. The record demonstrates that both the county court and the court administrator believed that courts lack such discretion. Because the applicable Chief Justice Directive permits the court to provide the additional interpreter at state expense, we should remand this case so that the county court may exercise its discretion under informed standards, allowing the county court to (1) determine the question of indigency and (2) whether to provide interpreter services to Cardenas and his pro bono counsel or require Cardenas to apply for public defender representation in order to gain translation assistance at state expense.
A. Chief Justice Directive 90-01 Allows for An Additional Interpreter When Defendant Is Represented Pro Bono
Chief Justice Directive 90-01 plainly allows-but does not require-the county court to determine the question of indigency for purposes of providing additional interpreter services, beyond the in-courtroom interpreter:
The court may appoint, at state expense, an additional interpreter for any party to a court case when there is a finding of indigency as to that individual. (See 13-90-114 C.R.S.)(See also Colorado Judicial Department Fiscal Procedures Ch. 17.2). Chief Justice Directive 90-01, Section 2, as Amended 8/16/01 (emphasis added).
The statutory reference in the parenthetical language of the rule is to the duty of the state court administrator to audit the accounts of the interpreter. See § 13-90-114, 5 C.R.S. (2002). This directive makes no distinction between criminal and civil cases in regard to additional interpreter services.
The directive does not prohibit a court from determining that a
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