Rumpole, I had a situation the other day while trying to depose a Spanish speaking State witness. As I have always done, when the witness arrived I called the interpreter's office, only to be told that they no longer are allowed to do that in PCAC cases. They said, and Pat Gladstone of the AOC General Counsel's office confirmed, that the responsibility to pay lies with JAC. I spoke with Stephen Presnell of JAC and he also confirmed the procedure.
I had advised Judge Soto about this and she asked me to email her when I had determined the procedure. Here is the email I sent her which explains what I found out. Perhaps you could post some notice so that others won't be in the situation I was:
Dear Judge Soto, as you will recall, I advised you that I had an issue with obtaining a Spanish language interpreter for a deposition in a case in which I was Court Appointed. You asked me to determine the policy and to report to you.
I was told by the official court interpreter's office that they would no longer supply interpreters for PCAC defense depositions. This was confirmed in a conversation with Pat Gladstone of the General Counsel's Office of the A.O.C. She told me that since JAC had no cost sharing agreement with the AOC in the 11th Circuit, we could not utilize AOC compensated interpreters. She said that the responsibility for paying was with JAC.
Today, I had a conversation with Stephen Presnell, General Counsel for the JAC. He confirmed what Ms. Gladstone told me. He said that the PCAC attorney will have to obtain a court order approving the utilization of a private interpreter, which order should reflect that the interpreter may bill at the same rate as the rate which the AOC has contracted for the official court interpreters. (Neither he nor I know what that is) He said that the order should also provide a maximum figure, although, he acknowledged, that figure was subject to revision retroactively, if the deposition took longer than anticipated.
I can envision a significant increase in hearings for what should be automatic. I wonder if there is some way the court could provide for leave to retain interpreters for depositions in the appointment order, much as we now do with respect to court reporter services. Perhaps the SAO could also advise, in their discovery response, whether any witness is non English speaking...
Judge Soto responded:
From: Soto, Bertila
Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2010 4:05 PM
To: Jack Blumenfeld
Subject: RE: PCAC counsel-Interpreting services
Jack,
I had spoken to Pat with reference to your interest in this matter. She told me exactly what you just wrote me. I think the defense bar should be made aware of the change. I was told this only started happening in September of 2009. Pat is going to ask JAC to clear the confusion up on their website and then I will send an email through the wheel and FACDL with the link. Sorry about the mix up.
Judge Bertila Soto
Rumpole says: With some due respect to Judge Soto- what crucial error did she make that veteran attorney Jack Blumenfeld didn't? Soto emailed the FACDL (motto: just pay your dues and shut up") while Blumenfeld went to Rumpole. Jack knows who holds the power of the press for the REGJB.