As Calif. Court Hearing Begins, Defendant Turns Out to Speak Mayan, Not Spanish

A controversial child-abduction case against a homeless California man who allegedly flagged down police and said he had taken a hungry 4-year-old boy to a restaurant for lunch became more complex today.

Police and lawyers had been communicating with defendant Jose Camal in Spanish. But as a detective started testifying in a preliminary hearing in Martinez today the 35-year-old Mexican native told his Spanish-language interpreter he could only understand some of what she was saying. The hearing was then halted while a Mayan interpreter was sought, reports the Contra Costa Times.

Prosecutors initially declined to charge Camal, who reportedly was drunk at the time of the July 13 incident, saying he had no criminal intent. However, the case was initiated after a flood of public protest. The unidentified 4-year-old was found about half an hour after he was discovered to be missing from outside his Concord home.