There are various concerns that arise when speaking with Spanish-speaking witnesses. The first concern is “No quiero problemas” or I don’t want any problems. This may indicate that they know something useful for the case, but they are hesitant to cooperate. Perhaps they know the defendant or the victim and they just don’t want to create waves in the Spanish/Latino community or the family. I take an approach to this with my experience and some examples of how to safely provide information in steps, to build comfort with the witness. As I progress through the steps, the confidence rises in the witness to see how their cooperation will be important to the case. I offer ways to help the witness buffer their cooperation within the community by utilizing several techniques I’ve developed to get witnesses to not only cooperate, but then indicate where more witnesses may be found, and any evidence that can be gathered to further assist the case.

There are other Witness concerns, and I will touch on them in a subsequent post. Check back soon…