Court Releases Convicted Robber Who Appealed Due to Missing File

Leonel Daly

Is Leonel Daly a free man because of a missing file? Daly’s case, an appeal to a robbery conviction, could not be heard today when he went before the Judges of the Court of Appeal because his record is missing. His file is one of twenty-three that cannot be located.  So, after spending almost seven years behind bars and with a missing record, Justice Chris Blackman expressed his dissatisfaction and subsequently offered Daly self-bail of a thousand dollars. It is expected that the twenty-four-year-old will meet bail on Friday morning because the case concluded late this evening.  Daly was one of two men tried for a robbery and attempted murder charge in connection with an incident that happened in Cayo in September 2010 where Leonardo Velasquez was attacked and robbed of twenty-three dollars. But almost five years ago, despite that two independent witnesses had testified that Daly was not one of the assailants, he was still convicted of the two charges. At seventeen years, he was sentenced to ten years for robbery and twelve years for the attempted murder charge.