Welcome to Criminal Translations: Crimes Lost (and Found) in Translation, a new series within Localize This!

I'm your host, Harry Windsor, and over the next few episodes, we'll dive deep into cases where a single mistranslated word, a cultural misconception, or a linguistic error changed the course of justice forever.

In today's criminal justice system, where split-second decisions can determine someone's fate, the role of accurate translation isn't just important – it's crucial.

These aren't just stories about crimes; they're cautionary tales about what happens when justice gets lost between languages.

Today, we begin with a chilling case that haunted the courts for over a decade: The Misheard Confession. A story where a simple linguistic nuance meant the difference between freedom and imprisonment.

On a cold November morning in 2003, in the quiet suburbs of Rochester, New York, Maria Santiago was found dead in her corner grocery store. The 64-year-old grandmother had been brutally attacked during what appeared to be a robbery gone wrong.

The tight-knit Hispanic community was shaken to its core. Maria wasn't just a shop owner – she was a neighborhood matriarch who helped recent immigrants find their footing in their new American home.

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