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Interpreting and Transcribing Evidentiary Tape RECORDINGS: High scale difficulty, High level satisfaction
The transcription and interpreting of foreign language tape recordings is one of the duties included in the scope of the work done by legal interpreters. It is difficult work as it is extremely time consuming, it requires serious concentration and the source tape is often of questionable quality. I have loved this work ever since over 16 years ago I was handed my first whisper-ridden, undercover tape with the audio quality of a 1930’s Victrola phonograph record. I have since completed hundreds of hours of tapes; both audio and video and serve as an expert witness on translated tape transcript quality. But I am continuously striving to enlighten our clients on the need for audio quality guidelines. What matters to the interpreter are the quality of the tape and the terms of the assignment agreed to with the client. All areas of the practice of law from family law to criminal to civil potentially present tapes as evidence. The contents of the tapes are as different as the field of law. Tape recordings that are included as evidence can range from simple recorded statements taken over the phone for an insurance claim on a vehicular accident to the undercover recordings made on a body wire in a sting operation. The courts are very accustomed to DA’s and defense attorneys offering tape recordings as evidence. They are attractive evidence because they are active as opposed to passive evidence. And if it is at all possible for them to be played at the trial, they make a more memorable impact on a jury than written exhibits ever could. But a foreign language tape recording looses all of its appeal and credibility as evidence if the tape has not been correctly transcribed and translated. More and more judges are throwing out evidentiary tapes that are riddled with errors and omissions. And now, after so many experiences with poor work, litigators have caught on to how to challenge such a tape as inadmissible. The result of a successful challenge is not only the loss of that specific evidence, but if it was key (such as a confession) then the entire case can be thrown out. You will also have angry Judges who will take it out on the attorneys, who will then take it out on whoever hired the interpreter. The result to the legal interpreter is a seriously damaged reputation which could affect them ever being hired again. The repercussions reach as far as the rest of the profession who are all judged as one. Omissions in legal interpretation have strict implications that interpreters in other fields don’t have to concern themselves with. Changing or paraphrasing what is originally said is the same as altering testimony which is considered perjury or lying under oath. We legal interpreters are subject to the penalties of perjury. The knowledge that the contents of a tape will
essentially be a conversation makes this work
and the pay very attractive to the novice interpreter.
They soon learn that it can be a conversation
under the conditions of duress, the emotional
stress of fear and panic plus language affecting
factors like drunkenness, arguing and many more
surprises. Often words and syllables are
drowned out by background noises. And then
there is the delightful discovery of a poor quality
audio. When I am assigned to serve as an
expert on a tape transcript and I learn that the
interpreter was not qualified before being hired,
I fear finding faulty work. Here
are a few tips to follow that will help you eliminate
the risks involved when working with tape-recorded
evidence. First, out of respect for the judicial system
and the guarantee of a fair trial to all who participate,
only accept this work if you are qualified.
You will be affecting a person’s life
and in certain states, in criminal cases you can
be involved in a death penalty ruling.
Only a qualified interpreter can perform
this work and withstand a challenge in court.
It is a complete myth to think that just because
a person can speak a language they can interpret
much less do quality tape work. This work
is done by transcribing and translating an audio
or audio/video tape but we actually combine both
procedures into one. Since you are hearing
the spoken word, you will rely on your interpreting
experience. So, essentially
a legal interpreter has the best experience to
do this work. You will need to draw on your
experience in serving at trials, hearings, depositions;
sworn statements which is everyday work in judicial
interpreting. This way you will be used
to the common and slang language used by a variety
of people. You will also not
be caught off guard by speech patterns that are
influenced by the setting and the speaker’s
focus on their testimony. You will need
experience with interpreting for witnesses that
are upset and emotional when you work with interrogation
and confession tapes. All tapes can include
legal terminology so know your “legalese”.
Present your qualifications in a concise and
written form. Remember that they will be
presented in court so, make no false or unverifiable
claims. Then educate your client
on your procedure, the format of your work product
as well as your terms and fees. Part of
your procedure will be to have your client attach
your qualifications to your final work product
when it is entered into evidence.
I also suggest that you attach a signed,
dated and notarized Certificate of Accuracy consisting
of our court interpreter’s oath.
Advise you client to not send you the only
original tape. Never accept a deadline or assignment without listening to the tape first. Take as little or as much time as you need to know how much work and time will be involved. (But if you take too much time in this process you can loose the job, so know when you are in over your head.) Legal procedures are time sensitive so be ready to be very flexible up to the point that your work quality will be affected. You have to be willing to turn down a job if the deadline means you will not provide accurate work. Never divide a job with another person. If the deadline is truly unreasonable the judge can be notified of the factors and reasons and may be able to grant a continuance. In this case, provide your client with a professionally written presentation of the factors and reasons that will be the basis of the request for more time.
It is important that the printed product is clear
and easy to follow or it will loose credibility.
When presented to the judge or jury as
an exhibit, more than likely only one section
will need to be read but the whole transcript
has to be admitted. You don’t want
the lawyer standing in court fumbling around trying
to find that one section. And
the evidence can be thrown out in its entirety
if there are errors in only one section. The format should be in transcript form and double-spaced.
It should be printed on plain paper, and not on
letterhead. Each page should be titled
with the tape recording identification.
This can be the case style, the cause number or
however the investigation has been identified.
On each page the tape itself should be identified,
(if more than one) as well as the side of the
tape such as Tape Three side B. Start a fresh transcript for each new conversation
or interview even if on the same tape. This
is because each new conversation can be considered
different evidence and it is often referred to
separately in court.
The transcript of simple recorded statements
can identify the speaker and the investigator
but it should be noted that these names were provided
to the translator by said investigator.
For tapes being submitted or considered for trial,
I never identify speakers on a tape by
name. Translators and interpreters can not
know and prove up that a voice on a tape is that
of a specific person. Many
litigators today hire voice experts to identify
a person on a tape, and they will also use these
people to challenge anyone identifying their client
based on hearsay. To avoid any possible misidentifications I prefer to list them as Male Voice One, Female Voice Two and so on. The enumeration is according to the order in which they appear on the tape as a speaker.
In this work, it is recognized that even the
top professionals will inevitably come across
the following limitations to being able to provide
a true and accurate interpretation of the words
spoken. That’s the good
news. The bad news is your
client may expect miracles from you anyway.
The advance presentation of the format will help
you educate your client. Even if a couple of syllables are missed from
a word the interpreter would have to guess or
estimate what the person meant to say.
A legal interpreter can not do this at
any time. This is not an option
for tape work, which will come under the scrutiny
of the court. As the oath that we swear
to indicates that we will interpret to the best
of our ability, therefore we must inform the court
and our client of these limitations to our ability. The following terminology is used within the
transcription to indicate that a word or group
of words could not be identified.
Develop a Key or Glossary Page to attach
to each presentation of your final work product. (Inaudible) is used when words can not be heard. This
can be due to sounds or noises that drown out
the speaker for example, slamming doors, car horns
honking, anything crashing, gun shots, explosions,
squealing tires and sirens. It is also
used when the tape recorder fails or cuts off
temporarily. Speakers at a
distance may not be heard although they will be
responded to by other voices. It is also
used when a speaker’s voice trails off at
the end of their sentence. (Unintelligible) is used when words were heard as spoken but can not
be specifically deciphered. This can be
caused by human sounds that interrupt or coincide
with the spoken word such as coughing, sneezing
crying while talking, choking or gagging, screaming
and mumbling. A body wiretap
microphone can rub against clothing and muffle
parts or complete words. (Mixed Language) This indicates words that
are not acceptable as correct usage in either
language. When a speaker is not yet fluent in the target
language but is forgetting their source language
the result is a mix of the two languages.
For example a speaker will revert to Spanish
by adding a Spanish language prefix or suffix
to a verb in English to force it to translate;
“pushear” for to push. You can
explain this limitation if applicable your translator’s
notes. Again, hold true to
the rule of not guessing, as such verbiage can
be very confusing in court. Don’t make
your work confusing also. The procedure is to listen to each sentence over
and over again until what is said is clear to
us. Sometimes even one or two words will
have to be replayed before the rest of the sentence
falls into place. An entire
section will have to be replayed whenever a speaker
talks very fast, when two or more people talk
over each other or when they speak in whispers.
Do not shy away from whispering: if the volume
can be turned up and the speed slowed down a whispered
sentence can be understood. I have uncovered
key evidence in a whispered sentence. It
is possible to separate what is said when two
people are talking over each other as long as
the two voices are distinguishable and if they
are speaking at the same decibel level.
It is actually harder to identify one word
by itself than it is to decipher a group of words.
People inflect more when speaking several words
and they speak more clearly this way.
Do not fall victim to the temptation to
suppose what the rest of the sentence was or what
a person would say in such a circumstance.
Do not allow pre-conceived notions of a
response or reaction to filter into what you hear.
Don’t count on a speaker to be consistent.
Right when you are confident that you have the
words down just play it one more time and you
will hear something completely different.
I have found this to be especially true if I allow
a day to lapse between replaying a difficult section.
The less you know about the case the better. This will be critical to the quality of your work. You will need a comfortable setting. You will need to shut off the phones and all other possible sounds like the radio, chiming clocks and music. We use a transcribing machine that allows you to slow down the tape and replay it or we use a high quality tape player. Work healthy: lack of sleep and low energy will affect your listening abilities and you will suffer from what is known as “ audio mirages” When time is not a factor, some people transcribe the tape directly from the source language and then translate the written transcript into the target language. Others, including myself, prefer to translate the audio directly into the target language while listening. Still I will replay and review my work from beginning to end before I hand it to a proofreader. Once completed the transcripts are proofread and printed up. In order to protect the integrity of the evidence, a proofreader should only review it for typographical errors, not grammar. People don’t always use correct grammar while speaking, especially in tape evidence.
As a rule, an eight-minute segment of a good
quality recording can take at least an hour to
transcribe. The foreign language element
should not add any difference. I perform this
service in one step-I interpret what I hear immediately
and transcribe it into English or Spanish.
But if you are asked to transcribe the
original tape and then translate the transcription;
your time consumption will be maximum.
Keep this in mind if you are asked to give
a quote in advance.
There are two ways to proceed If you are hired to review tape work done by another interpreter. One is to review the tape audibly while reading their transcript in the target language. I find this causes me to be swayed by inference of words I may not immediately hear and I fall into the trap of pre existing mistakes. The most efficient way is to perform your own individual interpretation and then compare the two final transcripts. Don’t play judge and jury over a fellow professional interpreter. You may not find any errors in a transcript. Often we are pitted against each other by the opposing parties without realizing that legal interpreters are disinterested in the outcome of the case. Let’s not lower ourselves to that level. By acknowledging a fellow professionals credentials and excellent work, you are helping to educate our market. Quite often I come across persons serving as
an interpreter who are thought to be bilingual
but don’t have a full command of the target
or source language much less any training and
experience. These “throw
down interpreters “can range from available
employees at a Sheriffs department or an entry-level
clerk with a foreign last name. Once they
start to face the tedious difficulties of tape
work, in frustration they will invent words or
paraphrase or actually use totally incorrect terms.
This will corrupt the evidence as it changes
the words of the speaker. On a more serious
note, I often see the incorrect translation of
to deny and to refuse
substituted with “don’t really want
to” It is also common for them to skip parts
because they do not understand long-winded or
rapid-fire responses. One of the causes of this is that persons who are foreign born are often expected by employers to have the same interpreting skills as a professional interpreter. The culprit is the confusion with the term bilingual and the skill of interpreting and translating which is all too common among our market. Either out of fear of demotion or a desire to not make waves in the company, they will take on the task without any training. After the product is proven to be riddled with mistakes and the case possibly lost, time and time again, I hear the same feeble excuse, “I never had done that kind of work before.” So if you apply the same respect for the professionalism
of your interpretation to this tedious task, you
can produce work that you will genuinely will
be proud of. And maybe, just
maybe you will grow to love tape work, like I
do. Diane E. Teichman, a Licensed Court Interpreter for the State of Texas and translator has specialized in legal work since 1980. Diane, a member of ATA, NAJIT, HITA, FLATA and AATIA was also the first administrator of the ID and the editor of the Interpreters Voice. She is the Series Editor for the book series Professional Interpreting in the Real World. http://www.linguisticworld.com/diane/multi_matters.htm She can be reached at articles@linguisticworld.com
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