In the Matter of Yovanny L., A Person Alleged to be a Juvenile Delinquent, Respondent, Judge Sidney Gribetz of the Bronx County Family Court ruled that while a Mandarin translator had made some errors and had failed to translate word by word as required by law, that there was no prejudice to either party, and that he would not strike the testimony of the complainant as the assistant corporation counsel had asked in a motion to strike. The complainant was a Chinese restaurant delivery worker who had been robbed by Yovanny L. The complainant who spoke limited English testified with the aid of a Mandarin translator.
Before ruling on the motion, the court took testimony from the interpreter and an assistant corporation counsel who spoke fluent Mandarin. While the judge dismissed the counsel's motion to strike, he did require that the interpreter be replaced by a new one from the interpreter's unit.
Judge Gribetz' ruling was based on case law and the OCA Internal Court Interpreter Manual and Code of Ethics.
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