State v. Genchi-Garcia, A-16-649

On Dec. 25, 2014, Jaime Genchi-Garcia (29) engaged in sexual contact with A.C. (13); he was charged with attempted first degree sexual assault of a child.
On Dec. 26, 2014, Genchi-Garcia, a Spanish-only speaker, accompanied Officer Emilio Luna to police headquarters; Luna interpreted for Detective Spizzirri during a recorded interview.
Officer Luna read Miranda warnings in Spanish; Genchi-Garcia affirmed he understood and agreed to speak; he admitted kissing, rubbing A.C.’s vagina over clothing, and touching his penis to her vagina but denied penetration or force. He was arrested after the interview.
Genchi-Garcia moved to suppress his statement, arguing the waiver was not knowing/voluntary and that Luna was an untrained interpreter; the district court held a hearing, heard Luna’s testimony, and denied suppression.
Bench trial: the court admitted the statement, heard A.C.’s testimony describing the assault and her escape, found Genchi-Garcia guilty, and sentenced him to 15–25 years’ imprisonment (within the statutory 1–50 year range).
On appeal, Genchi-Garcia contended the suppression denial was erroneous and the sentence was excessive; the Nebraska Court of Appeals affirmed.

Issue	Genchi-Garcia's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Whether his custodial statement should have been suppressed for lack of a knowing, voluntary Miranda waiver	Waiver invalid due to minimal education, illiteracy, limited English, foreign national status, and unfamiliarity with U.S. procedures	Miranda warnings were read in Spanish; Genchi-Garcia affirmed understanding and cooperated; totality shows voluntary, knowing waiver	Denied—waiver valid under totality of circumstances
Whether his custodial statement should have been suppressed due to use of an untrained interpreter	Officer Luna lacked special interpreter training, rendering translation unreliable and violating rights	No law requires trained/licensed interpreter; Luna was bilingual, translated accurately on video, and no challenge to accuracy was offered	Denied—use of Officer Luna as interpreter did not violate rights
Whether the 15–25 year sentence was excessive	Court failed to adequately weigh mitigating factors (age, education, family impact, low recidivism risk); silence wrongly treated as lack of remorse; deportation should reduce sentence	Court considered arguments but appropriately weighed victim impact and the violence/risk of a worse outcome; sentence within statutory range	Affirmed—no abuse of discretion in sentencing

Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966) (custodial interrogation requires Miranda warnings; waiver must be knowing and voluntary)
Dickerson v. United States, 530 U.S. 428 (2000) (Miranda establishes required procedures to protect Fifth Amendment rights)
Colorado v. Spring, 479 U.S. 564 (1987) (valid waiver requires full awareness of the nature of the right and consequences of abandoning it)