Wednesday, September 10, 2003

I was once on the witness stand here in Los Angeles, in a case against a young man from across our southern border who had committed some outrage or other against the commonweal. To his credit, he confessed his crime to me (after being duly advised of his Miranda Rights, of course), and I was testifying to this effect when I was challenged by the defense attorney. He questioned me on voir dire as to my ability to speak Spanish. I testified that I had taken Spanish in both high school and college, and that I had spoken it daily for years, both as a police officer and in my former job. "Well," he said, "have you ever lived anywhere where Spanish is the primary language?"

"Yes," I said, "for a long time."

"And where was that?"

"Los Angeles," I said.