People v. Avila

Defendant appeals from a judgment of imprisonment pronounced upon his conviction of the crime of statutory rape.

[1] The victim of the crime was a thirteen year old girl, who testified to the act of intercourse. For the purpose of corroborating her testimony, an aunt, Mary Foster, was called as a witness on behalf of the state. This witness, during her examination, repeatedly asked that she be accorded an interpreter, stating that she did not understand the questions asked her in the English language, which request was by the court denied until the latter part of the cross-examination, when it…