Garcia v. State

OPINION

MEYERS, PRICE, WOMACK, JOHNSON, HERVEY, HOLCOMB, and COCHRAN, JJ.

Jose Medrano Garcia does not speak English. His jury trial had mostly English-speaking witnesses and court personnel, and the proceedings were not translated. He did not affirmatively waive his right to translation and was apparently unaware of that right. We must decide whether Garcia’s conviction violates the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. We conclude that it does.

Facts and Procedural History

Garcia was born in Matehuala, Mexico, and attended school there through the ninth…