P. v. Deras
Jose T. Deras was convicted of beating his nine-month-old child to death and of forcibly sodomizing his wife, the mother of their child. He confesses the killing to her, to the arresting authorities and confesses to it at his trial. He contends, however, that the trial court's failure to properly admonish the jury concerning the use of the translation of his statements from Spanish into English constituted reversible error. We conclude that given the crushing weight of the evidence against him the error, if any, is harmless under any standard.
Jose T. Deras appeals from the judgment following his conviction by jury of second degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a)),[1] assault on a child causing death (§ 237ab, subd. (b)), and sodomy by use of force (§ 286, subd. (c)(2)). The jury also found true knife use and tying and binding allegations. (§ 667.61, subds. (a), (e)(3) & (5).) The trial court sentenced appellant to prison for 50 years.[2]
Appellant contends that the trial court committed reversible error by allowing the jurors to hear a Spanish language audio recording of his confession, along with an English transcript, although many jurors did not comprehend Spanish; by failing to instruct jurors with CALCRIM No. 121 or its equivalent, that they must accept the English translation of the interrogation as the evidence even if they would translate it differently; and by failing to instruct the jury on the allegation that appellant used a knife in the commission of the sodomy. We affirm.
Comments on P. v. Deras