Tirado v. Commonwealth

817 S.E.2d 309
CourtSupreme Court of Virginia
DecidedAugust 9, 2018
DocketRecord 170458
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 817 S.E.2d 309 (Tirado v. Commonwealth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tirado v. Commonwealth, 817 S.E.2d 309 (Va. 2018).

Opinion

OPINION BY JUSTICE S. BERNARD GOODWYN

In this appeal of a judgment from the Court of Appeals, we consider whether a defendant's waiver of his rights under Miranda v. Arizona , 384 U.S. 436 , 86 S.Ct. 1602 , 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), was knowing and voluntary and whether an audiovisual recording of the defendant's statements *311 made to police officers through an interpreter was properly admitted into evidence.

On March 30, 2015, a grand jury of the Circuit Court of Arlington County indicted Francisco Javier Garcia Tirado 1 (Tirado) for the rape of his minor cousin, "E.O.," in January 2015, in violation of Code § 18.2-61. The case proceeded to a jury trial beginning on September 21, 2015. The jury convicted Tirado of rape, and the court sentenced him to ten years' incarceration. Tirado appealed to the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction.

BACKGROUND

Detective Sandra Lafley (Detective Lafley), an officer in the special victims' unit of the Arlington County Police Department, interviewed both E.O. and Tirado on February 13, 2015. Officer Samira DeNardo 2 (Officer DeNardo) translated during Lafley's interviews of E.O. and Tirado. Officer DeNardo is "fluent in English and Spanish." The police made an audiovisual recording of the entire interview with Tirado, which included Officer DeNardo's live translation of Detective Lafley's questions into Spanish and of Tirado's responses from Spanish into English (the recording).

The parties agree that, during the first three hours of the recording, which began at approximately 9 p.m., for the most part Tirado sat alone, but that the police offered Tirado food and drinks, escorted him to the bathroom when requested, and provided his jacket upon Tirado's request.

Detective Lafley entered the room at approximately 11:50 p.m. Detective Lafley also asked if Tirado needed a drink, and returned with a can of soda as he requested. She also asked if he wanted a snack, which he declined. At approximately 12:01 a.m., she asked if Tirado "need[ed] to go to the restroom or anything," and he replied, in Spanish, "No sé qué dice," which was translated in the transcript as "I don't know what she's saying."

Tirado had been communicating only in English until this time. Officer DeNardo then repeated Detective Lafley's question to him in Spanish, and Tirado responded in Spanish that he did not need to go to the bathroom. From this time until the end of the recorded interview, Tirado spoke in Spanish, Detective Lafley asked questions in English, and Officer DeNardo translated Detective Lafley's questions into Spanish and translated Tirado's responses into English. 3

Detective Lafley asked if Tirado had any questions, and he asked, "What happened? Why did you bring me here?" Detective Lafley asked, "Do you want to talk about that?" and Tirado said "Yes." Detective Lafley said they would "get into all these details," but "before we do that, I just want to read you this." Detective Lafley asked "Would you feel more comfortable if it was read to you in English or Spanish?" Tirado replied: "Uh, I think Spanish would be fine."

At approximately 12:12 a.m., Officer DeNardo read a Miranda waiver form, written in Spanish, to Tirado. Tirado followed along on the form as she read aloud in Spanish. After she read each right from the form, Officer DeNardo asked Tirado, "Do you understand?" and he replied, "Yes." Tirado signed the Miranda waiver form. Detective Lafley then asked Tirado to read the form back to her so she could "make sure he understands it." Tirado read the form aloud in Spanish. The officers asked again, "You understand it, right? Everything you've read?" and Tirado replied "Yes."

In the course of the interview, Tirado stated that, during an incident two to three weeks before the interview, Tirado was on top of E.O. and pulled her pants down, but did not hold her forcefully. When asked if "it's a possibility that you might've ejaculated inside her," he said "I think so."

*312 At approximately 1:55 a.m., after collecting additional information about Tirado's employment, citizenship, and contact information, Detective Lafley stated, "I know that you feel bad about what happened. Do you want to write a letter to [E.O.]? Asking for forgiveness and apologizing?" Tirado responded, "That would be good." Detective Lafley stated: "You don't have to, but it's up to you. I'll leave it here for you, and I'll give you some time, okay?" She then asked, "Do you need anything? Any snacks, anything to drink?" and Tirado replied, "No. I think I'm okay." The officers did not make any comment about which language he should use to write the letter. The officers then left Tirado alone to write the letter, and the recording ended. Tirado wrote an "apology letter" to E.O. in Spanish.

Suppression Hearing

On August 26, 2015, Tirado filed a motion to suppress statements he made during the police interrogation. He argued that the statements were "obtained involuntarily and in violation of [his] due process rights under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment[s]," and that he "did not make a knowing and intelligent waiver" of his rights under Miranda . More specifically, he claimed that his "language skills, unfamiliarity with the American justice system, and alienage prevented him from executing a valid waiver of his Miranda rights." He alleged that the police used Spanish to explain his Miranda rights, rather than Mam, his native Mayan language in Guatemala. The circuit court held a suppression hearing on September 9, 2015.

The Commonwealth offered a copy of the recorded interview into evidence. Detective Lafley testified that it was a fair and accurate recording of the interview. Tirado did not object to the "physical evidence, that being ... the recording," but did object "because we anticipate that they are going to play the recording[ ] without the police officer who interpreted present." Specifically, he argued that, first, there was a lack of foundation "as to the veracity or the correctness of the interpretation," because there was no basis to determine "whether what is being said by Detective Lafley is actually being conveyed to [Tirado] and what [Tirado] says is accurately conveyed back to Detective Lafley." Second, he argued that the statements were hearsay, because the translator, Officer DeNardo, was "saying this is what [Tirado] says," and her statements were offered for their truth. 4

The circuit court admitted the recording into evidence and viewed the portion corresponding to Tirado's interview. 5

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Related

Collins v. Commonwealth
824 S.E.2d 485 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 2019)

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Bluebook (online)
817 S.E.2d 309, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tirado-v-commonwealth-va-2018.