Penner Appeal Starts Today

Elvin Penner

In July 2014, former minister of state, Elvin Penner was acquitted of immigration offences because of a lack of evidence before the magistrate. He was accused of facilitating the issues of a Belizean passport to South Korean Fugitive, Won Hong Kim, who was in a jail in Taipei. Those who brought the case against Penner maintained that there is overwhelming evidence…but that political and police stakeholders have conspired to withhold it. After Penner’s acquittal, COLA President, Geovanni Brackett, acted swiftly to seek an appeal of the Magistrate’s decision, and seven months after, the matter came up in the Supreme Court before the Chief Justice. Attorney Kareem Musa provided an update early this morning.

Kareem Musa

Kareem Musa, Attorney for COLA

“Today was the first hearing of that appeal. As you know this matter concluded at the Magistrate’s Court level last year and in August of last year we had filed our notice of appeal, we filed our grounds of appeal, and we are now in a position to proceed with that appeal. We have filed our skeleton arguments as well. This morning we were notified that Mr. Penner had a change of attorney…as you would recall at the Magistrate’s Court level he was represented by Mr. Ellis Arnold. This morning we were notified that Ms. Trecia Pitts-Anderson would be going on record, and in that regard she requested an adjournment because she was only retained I believe Wednesday of this week so she would be needing a little time to prepare her arguments for a full hearing which is scheduled now for the twenty-seventh of February, that’s in two weeks in believe.”