A pregnant woman and a man suffering from tuberculosis appear before the courts

Kimberly Alvarez

A woman who is pregnant and a Belize City man who is suffering from tuberculosis were taken before the court separately for criminal charges. The first to be arraigned was Kimberly Alvarez of Zacaranda Street in Belize City. Alvarez is being accused of causing damages to the six hundred dollar windshield of a vehicle belonging to her boyfriend, Marvin Ramirez. In court, Alvarez was unrepresented and when she was read the charge she pleaded not guilty.  Bail was an issue as she told the court she needed to make a phone call to get someone to bail her. Magistrate Leslie Hamilton inquired if she had been taken to the Queen Street Station Lockdown and when she said yes, the Magistrate questioned the police’s behavior as to why they did not use their discretion to grant police bail to Alvarez. With that, the Magistrate offered her bail in the sum of five hundred dollars. Alvarez is due back in Court on April fourth, 2014. Next to be arraigned before Magistrate Hamilton is thirty-four year old Neal’s Pen Road resident, Gregory Gibson who wore a mask that covered his mouth and nose. When he was asked what was wrong, Gibson told the court that he has tuberculosis.

Gregory Gibson

Before arraignment, the magistrate also questioned why Gibson had been taken to court under these conditions. Gibson was charged with possession of a controlled drug, being sixteen grams of cannabis which police alleged was in his possession on Wednesday.  In court, Gibson pleaded not guilty and like in the case of Alvarez, Magistrate Hamilton gave him self-bail in the sum of five hundred dollars.  Gibson is also due back in Court on April fourth, 2014. He told the court that the weed the police claim they found in his possession is not on him and because he is innocent, he pleaded not guilty. According to Gibson, he has been suffering from tuberculosis since 2009.