Calaney Flowers Walks Free of Murder Charge
Calaney Flowers
The budget debate proceeded today at the House in Belmopan. We will have all the highlights coming up, but we go to the Supreme Court which this morning delivered a stunning judgement in a murder case. Calaney Flowers was accused of deliberately ramming the motorcycle of her former boyfriend Lyndon Morrison and killing him in August 2012. Sochyl Sosa, his new girl friend, was also on the motorcycle and sustained injuries and lost her unborn child. At the end of the case for murder and attempted murder, in delivering one of his final judgements, Judge Troadio Gonzalez was not convinced that Flowers had deliberately killed her ex. News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
A somber moment outside of the courtroom of Justice Troadio Gonzalez this afternoon, as the grief-stricken mother of Lyndon Morrison is inconsolable. Her former daughter-in-law, Calaney Flowers, has walked free after spending several years on pretrial detention for the alleged murder of her son. It’s a bittersweet homecoming for the thirty-one-year-old who was charged for the vehicular homicide of her ex-boyfriend and the attempted murder of his partner. Flowers has been on remand since August 2012. Today, her fate was decided after almost five years in detention, much to the chagrin of her former in-laws.
Colin Morrison
Colin Morrison, Brother of Deceased
“It’s very shocking. The judge actually agreed that the evidence said that that was the car that killed my brother and hit Sochyl. So we had expected at least, if he had come to that conclusion, maybe a manslaughter charge. But he just dismissed the case and said that, “Oh well, he knows cases like these will definitely go to appeal.” So it’s very, very, very disappointing.”
You would recall that the incident made headlines when Flowers reportedly rear-ended her vehicle into Morrison’s motorcycle, fatally injuring the father of her young child and critically wounding his girlfriend. The violent occurrence unfolded near Atlantic Bank on Freetown Road, ironically a short distance from where she worked as a teller. Justice Gonzalez, having pored over the evidence presented, ruled that there was no proof of intent to commit murder.
Richard ‘Dickie’ Bradley
Richard ‘Dickie’ Bradley, Attorney for Calaney Flowers
“The actual charge against Calaney Flowers is that she murdered Mr. Morrison and she attempted to murder the person riding at the back of the motorcycle. That he could find no evidence, that he could find nothing to confirm with the legal ingredient of the crime of murder. Murder means you must have the intention to kill. At some stage, it could be long time you decided that you will kill or it could be right at the spur of the moment. He could find nothing at all in the evidence that Calaney Flowers actually formed that intention and executed it.”
The tale of a woman’s scorn has deeply divided these two families. The young mother returns to her son presumably bearing the guilt of having killed his father. On the other hand, his paternal relatives are beside themselves, the system in which they’ve placed all confidence having failed them at a critical juncture.
Sochyl Sosa & Lyndon Morrison
Isani Cayetano
“I can see the reaction on your mother’s face and this seems to have reopened a wound all over again. Have you guys had a chance to discuss this outcome prior to coming to court, in the event that this would have actually materialized?”
Colin Morrison
“Well we had definitely, because you have to try and prepare, you know. That’s the only thing you can do. But we had discussed two ways, either the murder or manslaughter. But we definitely weren’t prepared for a case being thrown out, you know. [We] definitely never prepared for this.”
Isani Cayetano
“How has this, on a personal note, you’ll forgive me for asking but I’ll ask nonetheless; how has this saga affected your family, in terms of the emotional loss and the damages?”
Colin Morrison
“Well, it ripped out the heart of my mother, you know. I mean, I couldn’t even imagine losing my child, much less anything else, you know and at one point my brother was like my son when my mother was away studying, you know.”
Senior Counsel Richard ‘Dickie’ Bradley, who assumed the defense, laid out a rather technical argument before the court, the merits of which were upheld by the presiding judge.
Richard ‘Dickie’ Bradley
“From the evidence in court, the car could not have slammed into the back of the motorcycle. His Lordship said that he’s of the view that there is no specific intention to kill. The other scientific evidence that I want to tell you about because I know that there are family members who are hurt. This is one of the many photographs of the vehicle. This is not the clearest one because the others are with the court. The photograph of the vehicle after the accident, from the left side, from the right side, from the front, shows that the bonnet is unchanged, that not even the glass on any side of the vehicle was broken. There is no dent, no tire mark, nothing on the front of that vehicle. So it cannot be true, This is a scientific matter, it cannot be true that a small car like this can slam into a ninja motorcycle with such force to send the two persons flying many feet in the air and there is not a single telltale trace.”
Practical explanation aside, the Morrison family is distraught. But are they willing to forgive Calaney Flowers?
Isani Cayetano
“As a sibling, have you considered forgiveness? Where have you been in terms of that emotional space to look at Ms. Calaney Flowers now that she is a free woman?”
Colin Morrison
“Well my only answer for that is that it is between her and God.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.
The prosecution is expected to appeal the decision.
