…And upholds conviction of kidnappers

And in a ruling just issued, the Court of Appeal has upheld the conviction and sentencing of Mark Vega, Omar Vellos, and Luis Urbina. The three had been successfully prosecuted for rape, kidnapping and commission of an unnatural crime stemming from a series of incidents in Corozal and Orange Walk in June of 2002. Their attorney, Hubert Elrington, had argued that the I.D. parade was flawed and one of the victims did not give a proper description of her assailants to the police. Those arguments were rejected by the three-man panel and the men will serve thirteen years each in jail. The D.P.P.’s office was represented by Cheryl-Lynn Branker-Taitt.