No Bail for Warren Lewis

Warren Lewis

Judge Herbert Lord today handed down a decision in the bail application of twenty-six-year-old Warren Lewis, accused of the August eighteenth 2009 murder of Albert Braddick Allen. Lewis’ attorney, Darrell Bradley sought bail for Allen on a number of constitutional grounds, but in a twenty-eight page ruling, Judge Lord denied bail and concluded that there are no special circumstances for Lewis to be granted bail.  Lewis was told that if his case is not tried in the January 2018 session of the Supreme Court, he can re-apply for bail. On October thirteenth, 2017, Attorney Bradley made submissions on four grounds; that under Section Five, Five, of the Belize Constitution, Lewis has suffered serious hardships because he has been incarcerated for a continuous period of eight years and two months. He also pointed out that his client has undergone two previous trials and is awaiting a third retrial for the same murder which the prosecution has not indicated when it will occur.  And that during his incarceration, Lewis has undergone a psychiatric evaluation because he exhibited signs of mental distress and was once placed in solitary confinement for a six-month period.  Prosecutor for the crown, Jacqueline Willoughby submitted several grounds as to why bail should not be granted to Lewis, stating that his attorney had given the court no special reasons or circumstances.  She also told the court that Lewis is a flight risk and that during his imprisonment he has displayed no form of rehabilitation and has over twelve infractions against him for violent behaviour. Willoughby also submitted that the judiciary has problems with a number of cases in back logs, and the lack of judges to deal with the criminal cases, are two of many reasons for the delay in Lewis’s retrial.