This second search uncovered crystal and liquid methamphetamine. The trooper pointed his fingers to his eyes and twice asked Salas “¿ Puedo buscar?” to which Salas responded “si” both times. ![]() Shortly thereafter, the trooper used Google Translate on his phone to formulate a search question in Spanish. Salas responded by opening the trunk, which the trooper closed after a first fruitless search. The trooper then asked, “Can I look? Can I search?” and pointed to his eyes, then to the trunk. The trooper twice asked whether the car contained “ drogas,” which Salas denied each time. A visibly anxious Salas Antuna presented his Mexican driver’s license and revealed his limited English. Salas Antuna, a trooper pulled over the defendant on a Texas highway for a minor traffic offense. But as two recent decisions show, the results are mixed. Turning to Google Translate seems like a sensible idea. ![]() What are police officers to do with pulled-over motorists who speak no or only broken English? They currently cannot expect to call in interpreters on demand.
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