‘Dickie’ Bradley Humbly Disagrees with U.S. Ambassador’s Nanes Opinion

Nanes was found in possession of a number of illegal Belizean documents including a fraudulent passport, was remanded in custody and then got bail despite an extradition request by Mexican authorities for the wanted businessman. In the wake of his flight, many, including United States Ambassador and former California Supreme Court Judge, Carlos Moreno, and Mexican Ambassador Carlos Quesnel Melendez, have weighed in on the matter.  Moreno is of the opinion that bail should not have been offered to Nanes in light of the pending request.  This morning, Senior Counsel ‘Dickie’ Bradley offered his two cents, respectfully disagreeing with the ambassador’s personal view.

Richard ‘Dickie’ Bradley

Richard ‘Dickie’ Bradley, Attorney

“The ambassador of the United States of America, the empire that moves the world, made public statements indicating slightly, it was not a frontal attack or anything, indicating slightly that somehow David Nanes ought not to have been granted bail.  These are people who are masters of the language so it was not, “How did that happen?”  It was said in words which were, you can’t impugn the decision of a judge who is making a decision on the facts before him.  Mr. Nanes could be a serial murderer and rapist but when the matter comes to court there is no evidence of that.  You can’t turn around after that and say, “Bwai da man da mi wahn major dan!”  The evidence in front is that they charge a citizen, a human being, a person for ABC, they are bailable offenses and a man and a woman’s freedom is paramount. 

David Nanes Schnitzer

That is what why we have the Supreme Court.  That’s a very important principle.  I am not here to challenge the ambassador from America but he was a former judge and he did say it was a subjective matter.  It’s not arithmetic, one and one makes two.  That is not what we are dealing with.  If the authorities wanted to charge for more serious offenses they should have done so.  So that is a matter that’s very important for Belizeans to try to look like the Supreme Court or the judges are being a little irresponsible.  No, no, no man.  Judges are here to stand up for your constitutional right to be free.  In Jamaica, all over the world, even a person charged with murder is entitled to bail.  It’s an allegation.  We have this bad habit in Belize that every charge, never mind every trial falls apart and the man walks out of jail, who gives you back five years of your life when you are in prison.  So, you know, we are growing and evolving but we need to make that point very clear.”