Court prosecutor finds himself behind bars for a good deed
Joseph Nunez
An ex-police officer, who is prosecuting cases for the municipal court, finds himself in big trouble with the law after being busted with a firearm loaded with live rounds. While the firearm is licensed, it does not belong to prosecutor Joseph Nunez, but to a friend who is a security guard. Nunez was busted with the firearm and ammo on June twenty-second after he intervened in a domestic dispute involving his friend and his wife. But the tables turned on Nunez even though he was doing a good deed and he is now facing criminal charges. To make a bad situation worse, the prosecutor was detained at his work place and then charged for Kept Firearm and Ammunition Without a Gun License. Today in the court room of Magistrate Herbert Panton, Nunez’s attorneys, Alifah-Elrington Hyde and Dickie Bradley asked the court to allow them time to seek the intervention of the D.P.P. Bradley told the court that he sees no reason why the matter should proceed since the prosecutor did nothing wrong, but the D.P.P. has been busy at the Court of Appeal and there was no word from her. Eventually after two this afternoon, Nunez was arraigned in court for Kept Firearm and Ammunition Without a Gun License. He was remanded in custody at the Belize Central Prison until August thirteenth.
Ok, let me get this right, the gun laws in Belize are draconian and he got busted with the licensed firearm. I thought by having the gun licensed was the right thing to do. We, John Public, aren’t equipped with the full news because Channel 5 didn’t say if he brandished the firearm when he intervened in the altercation. So, I guess I have to reserve my opinion until such time. Did someone file a report on him because of his interference in the domestic dispute or does he not have enough money to pay off the Magistrate? Yes, I said it because it’s a known fact that some of those magistrates took bribes, one was removed a couple years ago because the complaints were getting too outrageous. Makes me wonder who got paid off when they busted the guy in the North who had an alias and got Belizean citizenship and is also wanted in Ecuador. Hmmmmm.
What ever the situation is/was he of all people should know the law and live by it; he should be locked up for stupidity.
Timber’s comment about paying off magistrates is legitimate.