Original Article Without English, Inmate Was Trapped Pr. George's Defender's Office Never Met With Immigrant on Misdemeanor By Ruben Castaneda Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, April 10, 2006; Page A01 Ramiro Games figured he wouldn't spend much time locked up after Prince George's County police stormed into a Langley Park apartment where he was playing cards on Sept. 30 and arrested him and four other men on cocaine charges. But because he doesn't speak English, Games, 46, a Guatemalan immigrant laborer, spent nearly six months in jail without going to trial. He said he was unable to alert anyone in the justice system that his case was lingering. Ramiro Games, a Guatemalan day laborer, was left waiting in jail for nearly six months on a charge that typically results in a few days' stay. (By Robert A. Reeder -- The Washington Post) The Immigration Debate Immigration reform proposals before Congress have sparked a nationwide political debate. 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The office has only one Spanish-speaking intake worker and no fully bilingual attorney, although an estimated 15 percent of its caseload involves those who speak only Spanish. Finally, on March 17, Games was released after a county Department of Corrections employee was tipped off by another inmate about Games's plight and flagged the case for a Prince George's judge, who engineered a jailbreak of sorts. Circuit Court Judge Vincent J. Femia had Games plead guilty to the cocaine possession charge to get him out of jail, even though Games speaks no English, had no attorney or interpreter and did not understand what he was pleading guilty to. "He didn't have any idea what he was doing, and I didn't give a damn," Femia said in an interview. "Our system is a Gordian knot, and I cut it. My object in this case was not criminal justice. My object was to get him the hell out of jail." Informed of the case by The Washington Post, Prince George's public defender Brian C. Denton acknowledged that his office should have done more to represent Games. "This doesn't happen without the language barrier," said Denton, who took over the job in November. "It's our job to look out for these people. We've got to do better." In an interview conducted in Spanish last week, Games said he didn't know he was pleading guilty to cocaine possession in Femia's courtroom. "I didn't understand," he said. Why did he plead guilty? "I was guilty -- of being in the apartment," Games said. "I didn't know there were drugs in the apartment." Femia sentenced Games to 10 days in jail, gave him credit for time served and ordered him released. Asked why he didn't speak up about his long time in jail, Games shrugged and said: "I don't speak English. Who would I talk to?" Denton said a lawyer from his office was assigned to Games, who was scheduled to go to trial on the cocaine possession charge Jan. 30. Six days before that, at the request of county prosecutors, Denton said, a District Court judge moved the case to a docket of only drug cases, pushing the trial date to April 20. Such a move is not unusual. Similar delays typically prompt immediate objections from English-speaking clients, Denton said. "We hear from clients 30 seconds after they miss their court date," he said. His office receives "jail mail," a steady stream of letters from English-speaking clients inquiring about the status of their cases. Ramiro Games, a Guatemalan day laborer, was left waiting in jail for nearly six months on a charge that typically results in a few days' stay. (By Robert A. Reeder -- The Washington Post) Of Games, Denton said, "Who's he going to speak up to? Is he going to holler at the guard? Unfortunately, our system is not bilingual." If the Jan. 30 court date had not been rescheduled, Denton said, a lawyer would have met with Games three or four days before that date. When the trial date was pushed back, the case was reassigned to another lawyer because of his office's large caseload, Denton said. Shortly after he took over the office, Denton said, he assigned two lawyers to track clients who are charged with felonies in District Court, precisely to prevent the type of problem that kept Games in jail. The case file for Games was in the "in" box of the second lawyer when Games pleaded guilty before Femia. Nothing in the official court file indicated that the public defender was representing Games. Femia said he believed, based on the court file, that Games had no attorney. Gustavo Torres, executive director of CASA of Maryland, a Silver Spring-based nonprofit advocacy group for immigrants, said that what happened to Games is "unbelievable." "The immigrant and Latino community has been penalized once again because of the lack of language access," Torres said, adding that Maryland law requires the public defender to provide interpreters if clients need them. Denton said he has one Spanish-speaking intake worker on his staff, which includes 42 lawyers. Some of the lawyers speak some Spanish, but none is bilingual, Denton said. His office handles 16,000 criminal cases annually, and a rapidly increasing number -- about 15 percent -- involve Spanish-speaking clients. Games said he entered the United States without documentation six years ago. He was sharing a two-bedroom apartment in Langley Park with five other day laborers when his odyssey through the legal system began Sept. 30. About 9 that night, Games said, he walked to a nearby apartment to play cards with some acquaintances. According to police charging documents, at 9:10, narcotics officers and SWAT team members served a search warrant on the apartment on 15th Avenue. Officers recovered plastic baggies containing more than 42 grams of cocaine, a digital scale and two handguns, according to charging documents. Games and the other three men in the apartment were charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine possession. Police also arrested a fifth man who knocked on the door while officers were there. The man who knocked was carrying a small amount of cocaine, according to the charging document. At Games's preliminary hearing Oct. 28, a prosecutor dropped the charge of felony possession with intent to distribute, according to a tape of the hearing. A District Court judge set Games's bond at $40,000. The public defender's bilingual intake worker spoke with Games, but only to obtain basic background information, Denton said. As days turned into weeks and weeks into months, Games said, "I prayed to God to get me out." Games said friends visited him, but not on Thanksgiving or Christmas. Sometime in November, Games said, he spoke to a bilingual Cuban inmate who urged him to seek a court hearing as soon as possible. Games said he wrote, in Spanish, to a judge but never got a response. About the same time, Femia said, an employee with the county Department of Corrections who helps compile his docket received a letter from an inmate, not Games, describing Games's plight. Femia, a retired judge who works part time, presides over a "rocket docket" in which he goes to the Prince George's detention facility in Upper Marlboro every Friday to quickly resolve charges against nonviolent offenders. The corrections worker became more and more upset as she saw the charges against three of Games's four codefendants resolved while he remained incarcerated on a misdemeanor charge, Femia said. One still faces felony cocaine charges. On March 9, the corrections worker arranged for someone to give Games a one-page document asking for a trial. Games said someone asked him to sign it, "So I did." Games said he did not understand what he was signing. A week later, Femia came to the jail to deal with his docket. When Games's name was called, Femia said, " Cmo se dice? [How do you say?] Guilty or no?" Games pleaded guilty. Femia said, " Vaya con Dios."