Murder charges dropped against illegal alien—translator botched Miranda rights

• June 9, 2011 12:16 pm ET

Dave Gibson

• Immigration Reform Examiner

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Last month, a judge in Ohio ruled that an interpreter failed to properly inform Antonio M. Martinez-Nunez of his rights prior to police questioning. The 31-year-old illegal alien was charged with murdering another illegal alien in a Columbus suburb over drug territory.

As such, any statements made by Martinez-Nunez would be suppressed during trial…Basically, eliminating the state’s case against the illegal alien.

Martinez-Nunez speaks only Spanish.

On Wednesday, Assistant prosecutor Mark Wodarcyk announced that there was no longer sufficient evidence to bring the case to trial.

Wodarcyk told The Columbus Dispatch: “His statements were the cornerstone of our case. We were left with insufficient evidence to go forward and have any reasonable chance of succeeding at trial."

Castanedo’s body was found in a parked car in Reynoldsburg. An autopsy revealed that he had been   asphyxiated.Martinez-Nunez was charged with nine separate criminal counts, including aggravated murder and abuse of a corpse in the August 2009 death of Armondo Casillas Castanedo.

In February 2010, Martinez-Nunez was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents when he attempted to re-enter the country illegally in Texas. While in custody, Reynoldsburg police conducted a phone interview with Martinez-Nunez through a Spanish interpreter. However, another interpreter working for the defense later discovered that the initial interpreter failed to give the illegal alien a complete reading of his Miranda warning.

Martinez-Nunez is currently in the Franklin County jail awaiting deportation.