In Matter of Edwin N. , Edwin was adjudicated a juvenile delinquent after being found guilty of crimes which -- if committed by an adult -- would have comprised "robbery in the second degree, grand larceny in the fourth degree, criminal possession of stolen property in the fifth degree and menacing in the third degree."
While the Queens County Family Court made efforts to provide Edwin and his family with a interpreter of Bassa -- a West African language -- that assistance was unavailable during the entirety of the hearing process.
On appeal, the Appellate Division, Second Department, could discern no constitutional error in allowing the case to proceed in the interpretor's absence, given that the defense had access to a translator prior to the hearing, and Edwin's sister, who was fluent in both English and Bassa, was present throughout the proceeding's course.
Sorry, but we don't understand.
