Bar Association members want proper security at the Courthouse
arthur saldivar
This morning’s murder of Andre Trapp did not only affect the proceedings before the court but it also brings into question the safety of the members of the judicial branch of government. Though this shooting occurred in the parking lot behind the magistrate’s court, the violence could have spilled inside the courts. This afternoon, Arthur Saldivar and Hubert Elrington, spoke to News Five as concerned members of the Bar Association. Saldivar was coming out of court this morning when the hail of gunshots killed Trapp. Saldivar and Elrington suggest that not only is there a need for armed security, but they go as far as saying that Operation Jaguar has no teeth.
Arthur Saldivar, Concerned Member of the Bar Assn.
“This morning’s assassination of Andre Trapp is appalling and disturbing; but what is most disturbing is the fact of where it occurred. This took place in broad daylight while court was in session in front of Magistrate’s Court, here in Belize City. It is now clear evidence that whatever measures are being taken by the government and the police is not working to curb crime in the city. In fact, this matte is now escalating beyond where anyone would have imagined. I believe, we are looking at a situation now of our society being lost at sea, and we certainly need leadership now to bring it back.”
Hubert Elrington, Concerned Member of the Bar Assn.
hubert elrington
“We are two concerned members of the Belize Bar Association and I’ve been a member for a very long time. The killing this morning, this assassination, follows on the attempted killing of our colleague Mister Williams, Rodwell, who thank god is recovering quite well in Miami. But my concern has been a long standing concern. I was in the Appeals Court arguing a case this morning when that occurred and there’s no security at all, none. Anybody could have entered that court; anybody can enter any of the Magistrate court because the people there are not armed. Some greater amount of security will have to be taken. The thing will have to be taken seriously not only at the courts but right across the whole spectrum of government. And I don’t think those that are in particular, I don’t think the prime minister is seized of the seriousness of this and certainly the people he has around him, sycophants and flunkies, who he surrounds himself with and seems to get pleasure out of surrounding himself with. It’s going to bring disaster on all of us.”
Can you imagine these attorney’s complaining about crime and violence in our streets and around the court house, i need to remind them that not only are they part of the problem of a lawless society , they help to assist these criminals by representing them each and every time they are “accused of hideous crimes” ranging from murder right down to extortion. Our society is plagued by all these senseless acts of violence and Attorneys feed on these sort of things again by representing these same criminals in the very court they are complaining about. Remember the good old saying, “throw a stone in the hag pen and the haag weh get lick with the stone wah bawl” gentlemen you cannot have your cake and eat it at the same time, do Belize a favor, stop defending these criminals who have brought our country down to nothing but a crime ridden society, please let me see which one of your members from the Bar Association will defend the shooter from this incident, i am waiting to see who will jump on this one…
Concern. I agree with you that these attorneys should be the last ones to be making comments. However, I know that they have certain obligations to provide the best possible defense to a person once they have taken the case, so for this I can not fault them. On the same breath, they speak of the police department having problems blah blah however I have not seen anyone of them volunteering in anyway to assist in the improvement of the Police Department. We except of Mr Daryl Bradley who I heard gave some lectures for the police. Know that the DPP’s office is under staffed, I have not heard of any of them assisting in that regards.
There is a lot I think the can do apart from Calling talks shows just being critical without doing anything else so that we arrive at a solution.
Even if they do defend criminals, you are innocent until proven guilty. We would turn into a totally lawless community if the attorneys did not defend their clients. You do have a right to a fair trial under a democracy.. You have to remember also, that the police sometimes pick up people just to make an arrest in a case, the police need to have better qualifications to be a policeman, some of the police are just as bad as the “criminals”. Look at the corruption even at the high levels of GOB for years. Our crime has been ignored for years, by both parites of our government., now it has come back to bite all of us in de arse.
you lawyers have guts for asking for security, you guys have no shame, becasue of you damm lawyers all these killing is taking place in our country, you people for the lust of money you run behind these gangstas to bail them out after they comit their crimes, and set free back in the streets and the killing continues!!! lawyers and gangstas are from one crokusbag only cause the gangstas have the guns and the lawyers have the necktie, but they are from the same breed.
you ….. I hope God send some bad spirit to torment you guys!
attorneys are always praying and making annual budgets in becoming millionaires with these criminals that are plagueing our society. It’s a shame to be listening to an attorney in court, instead in applying our constitution to build a non crime society, attorney uses the loop holes of our laws to slap the judicial department to make thousands of dollars, to have properties, to live like a millionaire while the humble society has to continue to question who is the real criminal. stop defending the culprits, lets make justice, trust in God and he will do the rest, peace and love within our society.
Most Politicians and Defence Lawyers are both criminals. The difference between the two is that the Politicians are paid by the people and the Lawywer are paid with blood money. They are both in it for money, not justice.
It is really of no value to blame attorneys and what really must be done is to have a solution to crime. In Singapore crime is managed and kept in check by the rules of law. You break the law and you pay the price by being cane and then sentenced to stiff jail time. In Saudi Arabia you steal and you will lose a hand. In Belize we complain, blame others and never come with a solution. Solution – take 5 young murderers and publicly hang them and send the message, you take someone life and you will lose your life in turn. I observed Belizean collecting funds to help Haiti and totally overlook the fact that Belize City is in dis-repair and need those very funds to repair a decaying infrastructure and environment. Let’s put the priorities in the right place and take back our society and get rid of the bad elements (they cannot be rehabilitated) so let’s knock off the bleeding heart behavior. You take a life, you will lose your life (quite simple). Stop the blame game and take back your society.
Oh now they are afraid? Welcome to Belize my dear! For years Defense lawyers have been enjoying the financial benefits of defending the very elements that have plagued Belize and turned Belize into one of the least desirable country to live in. They have managed to become successful by seeking the many “loopholes in the system” getting their clients off on “technicalties”, despite overwhelming evidence!
Now, maybe I’m too naive or ignorant to ever understand why as a human being, would anyone knowingly put a criminal back on the street for the right price! Believe it or not, each time you place these scumbags back on the street, they go and recruit some 20 more young men, and increase the size of their army. Today the entire country is being terrorized by criminals, some of them having in their possession some very powerful guns and even grenades!
Criminals use their ill gotten money to buy the services of defense lawyers who often benefit from a weak, and poorly staffed DPP dept, an understaffed and corrupt Police department which often lose evidence, an ill eqiuipped Forensic Department, the lack of a Witness Protection/ Relocation programme in Belize and not having a stiffer penality for witness tampering.
Yes we should all be afraid, because life is cheap in this country. Sad to say for the past 5 years the murder/ attempted murder statistics have been in the triple digits. So many mothers of normal law abiding citizens, are crying on TV due to the loss of their loved ones due to gunshot violence, begging any powerful organization or politician to intervene by doing something to stop this madness! Children are being gunned down innocently in the streets of Belize during normal working hours. I sincerely hope that Restore Belize will change all this feeling of insecurity, because my family has no other country but Belize.
I dont necassarily believe that defence attorneys want Belize to be unsafe. If anything, they simply defend criminals because it pays and it pays well. Perhaps they are simply guilty of the deadly sin of Greed and as a consequence, we have a society that’s plagued by crime.
I’m no defender of lawyers but I have to disagree with some of your statements. I refuse to believe that lawyers are happy that we have this high rise in crime, anymore than a doctor being happy that we have a rise in dengue cases, or swine flu cases, heart diseases, etc. We are all a part of the solution to this deep hole in which our country has sunk. All of us have an important role to play: doctors, policemen, teachers, religious leaders, lawyers, and politicians too. We have to stop pointing fingers and come up with positive solutions before we loose this country for good!
To “For peace sake”:
Do not kid yourself into thinking that defense lawyers are a part of the solution. The only contribution they’ve made is to pay taxes from the money they make defending these scums. Yes, they don’t necesarily want an unsafe country, as that will hurt all of us indescriminately. I don’t think they they want a crime ridden country especially if they have kids they care about, however they choose to get rich at any cost and calm themselves by saying they have an obligation to their client. BULL CRAP! These bastards don’t care. Have you ever seen a prominent defense lawyer do “pro bono”?
You need to go to the courthouse to see how they passionately they defend these scums. I watched my aunt’s eyes filled with tears when one very prominent lawyer manipulated the system to get off the man who mudered her and tortured her teenage child. His lawyer got him off on a technicality, as far as I’m concerned. Later, that same lawyer simply gave a statement to the media and rode off in his nice ‘wheels’ perhaps to have lunch with his family, while my family is still left with a bad taste for the Justice system of our country.
Defense lawyers will always follow the money, hence, they side with the criminals. They are not a part of the solution. Just ask yourself, since when have they started to become vocal about the crime situation? When did they satrt to care?
To “For peace sake”:
(A small correction to previous entry)
Do not kid yourself into thinking that defense lawyers are a part of the solution. The only contribution they’ve made is to pay taxes from the money they make defending these scums. Yes, they don’t necesarily want an unsafe country, as that will hurt all of us indescriminately. I don’t think that they want a crime ridden country especially if they have kids they care about, however they choose to get rich at any cost and calm themselves by saying they have an obligation to their clients. BULL CRAP! These ….. don’t care. Have you ever seen a prominent defense lawyer do “pro bono”?
You need to go to the courthouse to see how they passionately they defend these scums. I watched my aunt’s eyes filled with tears when one very prominent lawyer manipulated the system to get off the man who mudered and tortured her teenage child. His lawyer got him off on a technicality, as far as I’m concerned. Later, that same lawyer simply gave a statement to the media and rode off in his nice ‘wheels’ perhaps to have lunch with his family, while my family is still left with a bad taste for the Justice system of our country.
Defense lawyers will always follow the money, hence, they side with the criminals. They are not a part of the solution. Just ask yourself, since when have they started to become vocal about the crime situation? When did they satrt to care?
Michael; I agree with you 100% my bwhy !! Rather than hire an expensive consultant out of america what the GOB need to do is pay for a DPP from Singapore or Malashia to come to Belize with his law books and the authority to enforce same. I bet you all this gang foolishness and crimminal behaviour would be put in check.
Remember that american youth a few years ago that went over there and put some grafitti some place he had no business putting it? He was found to be guilty and ordered i believe 10 lashes. Well, good ole President Bill Clinton tried to use his high office to intercede on the criminal’s behalf. You know what the judge send back and tell Bill? A crime was committed and the penalty is a certain amount of lashes. Now if you, Mr. President want to come and take those strokes for this young man, thats perfectly fine with us. BUT………… somebody got to get lashed . That’s the man we need in Belize.
I never thought I’d see the day, lawyers afraid, insecure. I always thought they were fearless, the way they open their doors to these ciminals, any hour of the day or night. Join the club, we afraid too and tired of living locked up, fraid fu di dark, an dyin fu go out afta dark. All de business weh haf to close down sake a armed robbery, people pickni no di eat sake weh mammy lose fu she job, boss cant recova the lass.
Anyway maybe being a part of a powerful organization like the Bar Association, Elrington and Saldivar will use their power to help fight crime. We have one PUP lawyer, One Outcast, we only need one UDP lawyer now to set the ball rolling, ha? Any volunteers?