CACI 5008 Duty to Abide by Translation Provided in Court
California Civil Jury Instructions CACI
5008 Duty to Abide by Translation Provided in Court
Some testimony was given in [insert language other than English]. An interpreter provided translation for you at the time that the testimony was given. You must rely solely on the translation provided by the interpreter, even if you understood the language spoken by the witness. Do not retranslate any testimony for other jurors.
Directions for Use
If this instruction is used, the advisory committee recommends that it be read to the jury before reading instructions on the substantive law.
Sources and Authority
•It is misconduct for a juror to retranslate for other jurors testimony that has been translated by the court-appointed interpreter. (People v. Cabrera (1991) 230 Cal.App.3d 300, 303 [281 Cal.Rptr. 238].)
•“It is well-settled a juror may not conduct an independent investigation into the facts of the case or gather evidence from outside sources and bring it into the jury room. It is also misconduct for a juror to inject his or her own expertise into the jury’s deliberation.” (People v. Cabrera, supra, 230 Cal.App.3d at p. 303.)
•“If [the juror] believed the court interpreter was translating incorrectly, the proper action would have been to call the matter to the trial court’s attention, not take it upon herself to provide her fellow jurors with the ‘correct’ translation.” (People v. Cabrera, supra, 230 Cal.App.3d at p. 304.)