Why does Japanese to English translations struggle to figure out whether something is supposed to be an "L" or an "R"?

Usually when a manga writer makes up a new word the word usually gets translated with an "R" then fixed into an "L" later. Like in Jojo's part 8 as an example, ロカカカ gets initially translated at Rokakaka but later turns into Lokakaka down the line. There's other examples but I forgot them.