Dorian Pakeman Shakes Off Last Civil Suit in Dean Dawson Death
Dorian Pakeman
Last May, Director of the Government’s Press Office, Dorian Pakeman, walked out of the Magistrate’s Court a free man. Then-Senior Magistrate Sharon Frazer upheld a no-case submission for lack of evidence against Pakeman, who was accused of causing the death, by careless conduct, of Gardenia resident Dean Dawson on the Phillip Goldson Highway the previous March. It was reported at the time that of two civil suits against Pakeman in relation to the case, one—filed by Sherla Adolphus—had been settled for a reported forty-five thousand dollars, while another had been dismissed. But Adolphus re-opened her case and represented herself at trial this morning before Supreme Court Justice Sonya Young, only to find that the court did not believe there was sufficient evidence of negligence on Pakeman’s part. She is not able, therefore, to claim further compensation for the death of her partner. But that, she angrily told News Five’s Aaron Humes after the decision was read this afternoon, does not absolve him of his responsibilities.
Aaron Humes, Reporting
Government of Belize Press Office Director Dorian Pakeman would probably like nothing more than to put the events of Wednesday night, March thirtieth, 2016 behind him. That was the night his Government-owned Isuzu D-Max and forty-five year old Dean Dawson’s bicycle met with fatal consequences for Dawson near mile twenty-three on the Philip Goldson Highway. The case took many strange twists and turns, culminating in the single charge of causing death by careless conduct against Pakeman being dismissed last May. Common-law wife and mother of four of Dawson’s children, Sherla Adolphus, had received a settlement at the time and controversially requested that the case not proceed further. She was back at court today – but this time, she did not get what she wanted.
Sherla Adolphus, Lost Civil Suit
“I [did] not get justice, and it is not fair for a single woman with four children [not to have] justice, and knowing that he killed my babies’ father. God is not sleeping, Mr. Pakeman; you need to wake up and step forward and do your responsibility, no matter what the court says. But you know personally that you killed Dean Dawson, my common-law husband and he is not in the fault of this.”
Sherla Adolphus
Adolphus stood by herself in the courtroom of Justice Sonya Young, with only family as support, facing Pakeman and his attorneys including Agassi Finnegan of the Solicitor General’s Office. Arguments, held in-camera, lasted all morning and this afternoon, Justice Young told Adolphus that she had not proved that Pakeman was negligent in causing Dawson’s death. Adolphus vehemently disagrees.
Sherla Adolphus
“They said that they didn’t find him in no fault that he knocked down Dean Dawson. So who else could knock down Dean Dawson; that’s what I need to know! Who else was with him? Who else was driving the truck if it was not Pakeman?”
Aaron Humes
“Did they say if it was accidental?”
Dean Dawson
Sherla Adolphus
“Pakeman said Dean swerved in front of him; Dean would not do such a thing! And he was coming home to his children – Dean would never ever swerve in front of Dorian Pakeman’s vehicle to kill [himself!]”
Adolphus must now pay court costs of two thousand dollars and says she is not sure if she will appeal. But the bigger issue for her is the continued care of her now fatherless children.
Sherla Adolphus
“As far as what I know, I will not appeal on behalf of nothing concerning Pakeman anymore because he knows what he did.”
Aaron Humes
“So you just want him to accept his responsibility?”
Sherla Adolphus
“Accept your responsibility, because I have four underage children that I can’t mind on my own; you [took] away their father!”
Aaron Humes reporting for News Five.
Pakeman told News Five this afternoon that he had no further comment on the case.
