OROVILLE An ongoing preliminary hearing for five of 18co-defendants in an alleged drug ring has been delayed because ofan issue involving Spanish-language translators. Friday was the second day in the preliminary hearing forco-defendants prosecutors allege were part of a drug ring headed byMario Martinez Salazar. Many were arrested during a May 4 sweepthat concluded the investigation. The prosecution alleges they conspired in an operation to traffic drugs in Butte and Glenn counties. The hearing is being held in Butte County Superior Court todetermine if there is sufficient evidence to hold a trial fordefendants Salazar, Carlos Atrian Jr., Martin Rodriguez Jr. andAlejandro and Sonia Becerra. During a review of Spanish-language qualifications of special agentAndrew Torres of the state Department of Justice, Judge StevenHowell noted there was an appeals court decision regardingtranslations of foreign language conversations. Part of the investigation into the alleged drug ring includedwiretap surveillance of telephones. Most of the recordedconversations were entirely in Spanish. In the 1985 decision by the 3rd District Court of Appeal, the courtfound the original interpreter of a tape recording should be madeavailable to testify about his work. At that point, Atrian's attorney, Brandon Williams objected to the proceeding, which other attorneys joined in.Williams said the original translator should be called to testifyand be cross-examined by the defense. Howell said he understood that deputy district attorney Marc Noelwas going to offer written translations of the phone calls and haveagent Torres testify he listened to the audio tapes, reviewed thetranslations and could verify them. Noel said he disagreed with the criminal defense attorneys ' objection and the appeals court ruling. He said the situationapplies more to foreign language translators who must show theirqualifications in court, especially because there is often nowritten record of what they say to their clients. Noel argued the decision doesn't affect the admissibility of thetranscripts and that attorneys could dispute individual calls. Howell said he felt constrained by the appeals court decision andwhat must be done in the current case. He noted there could be logistical difficulties in having thetranslators testify a team divided the work. Howell continued the hearing to April 2. He said Noel could seekinput from the state Attorney General on the matter. The phone calls have been an issue throughout the case. During an earlier preliminary hearing for Atrian and co-defendantJuan Carlos Alvarez-Fajardo, Judge Robert Glusman ruled thatsummaries of recorded conversations couldn't be used as evidence.He said translations needed to be verbatim. Article Contribution by Staff Writer Ryan Olson of ChicoEr.com Staff writer Ryan Olson can be reached at 896-7763 orrolson@chicoer.com. I am an expert from led-torchflashlight.com, while we provides the quality product, such as D Battery Flashlight Manufacturer , China CR123 LED Flashlight, LED Torch Flashlight,and more.
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