Attorneys say it’s not over

Defense attorney Kirk Anderson says he is concerned that hearsay evidence is being considered by the U.S. as sufficient cause to request Fuller’s extradition.

Kirk Anderson, Defense Attorney

“One of the things that the Magistrate relied on in the course of rendering his judgement was that according to him my client never protested and told Inspector Flowers that he was not the Rhett Fuller who was wanted in the States. But those of you who have any knowledge of criminal procedure whatsoever will know that when a person is charged with any criminal offense to be brought before a court they are cautioned; they are told as the Constitution requires that they have a right to remain silent. We therefore feel that if someone is going to draw an adverse inference against an accused person on the basis of his having exercised his lawful rights under the Constitution I think that we have a problem.

We certainly feel confident that ultimately our client will be vindicated in a court either in Belize or if we have to go to England to the Judicial Committee or the Privy Council then there, but we certainly feel that our client will be successful in the end.”

Solicitor General Gian Ghandi who presented the case for the United States had no comment following the decision. According to the evidence presented by Ghandi during the hearing, Rhett Fuller and two other men Carlos Quello and Alex Napolitano were involved in an armed robbery attempt on Gerald Hiebert and the deceased Larry Miller in Dade County. During the attempt Quello shot and killed Miller. Quello and Napolitano have already been convicted and are serving sentences in a Florida prison. While Magistrate Lord made it clear this morning that the statements provided by the U.S. as evidence do not indicate that Rhett Fuller is the person who killed Larry Miller, Florida law dictates that all persons involved be charged with murder.