Court decides in favor of Minister of State Castro
A claim against Minister of State Edmond Castro was struck out by Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin this morning. The matter had been before the court since February 2014, when Belize Rural North resident Trevor Vernon accused Castro of breaching the code of conduct under the Constitution. This is in respect of a series of cheques issued by the Belize Airports Authority in which Castro was accused of abusing his authority. In the fallout, the BAA Board was asked to resign and they did and as far as it is known, another has not been named. This morning, the Chief Justice upheld the submission by Castro’s attorney Denys Barrow, in which he claimed that the matter was filed under the wrong provision of the Constitution. It’s a technicality, but enough of one that it resulted in the matter being dismissed. Castro did not wish to comment, but Phillip Palacio, the attorney for Vernon, explained that it was the view of the court that the application should have been made under public law. We got reactions from both sides as the parties came out of court this morning.
Phillip Palacio, Attorney for Trevor Vernon
Edmond Castro
“We are disappointed, but as how it goes in the practice, we’ll have to seek advice from our client to see what he’s going to do about it.”
Reporter
“Sir if I understood correctly Mr. Castro’s application was successful on a mere technicality because it was under private law instead of public law.”
Phillip Palacio
“Well they say that there is no technicality, there’s only the law. But indeed the claim was brought under one seeking administrative orders, and the Chief Justice pointed out that it should have been brought under private law. So like I said we’ll check with the client and see where we go from here.”
Phillip Palacio
Reporter
“Sir can this matter be brought back in another form? Some would say that it is very important for this matter to be ventilated in court.”
Phillip Palacio
“Well there were stipulations given by the Chief Justice in his order when he struck out the claim. There is an order for costs. The costs must be paid before any other claim of this nature can be brought again before the court. So there is an order for costs, and Mr. Vernon would have to comply with that order if he intends to pursue this matter any further.”
Trevor Vernon has been ordered to pay costs of five thousand dollars.
Round one for bootyman’s technicality. Time to party.
Trevor, what is your PayPal account?
Bootyman won’t last in round two.
How can you expect any kind of justice in Belize when even the judges are corrupt to the core this really really makes me want to vomit seeing how corrupt this whole gov. Has become but I tell you the day is at hand when even all these corrupt judges will be sitting in jail .
This lawyer should pay the costs cause like he simple – he no read the law books and advise his client correct? You cant waste court time. Castro cant use tax dollars for his personal slush fund. Oh wait – they just get a 10 million top up.
Phillip Palacio needs to go back to Law School. Deny’s Barrow and Castro need to go back to jail again and again for the crimes committed against this nation. I keep stating. The public of this country will take only so much more from politicians, especially the lawyers whom keep making an ass of us! We are tired of them!
Make me sad seen all the corruption in our beautiful country and still we are so stupid and naive thinking that any CORRUPT minister or any associated to this goverment will be prosecuted with all the extend of the law ,they find you with a small joint of cannabis and is a big circus from the police and media, you go to court and the “HONORABLE” judge inmediatelly send you to jail because you cannot afford the bail because the amount is too exagerated ,but with this real CROOCS ,ARROGANTS, CRIMINALS,THIEFS,SEXUAL PREDATORS AND THE WORST”REAL IGNORANTS” I dont really know how these people are ministers ,they just cant be prosecuted and just get wrist slap .WHAT A SHAME FOR THESE CORRUPT “HONORABLES” SO CALLED “JUDGES”
so its was expected,it was expected….can GOB interfere and order the JUDGE’ to just throw the case off? in the eyes of the Belizean public he is guilty, dennis barrow and the judge one day will be judged by our creator,they might have fooled the justice system here but not the justice in HEAVEN.sooooooooooo corrupt and disgusting of the edmond castro and the UDP government.
Well at least this saved court time and money. If they did not throw it out right away they would have wasted weeks of court time to find this guilty minister, “not guilty”
Did anyone expect any other decision? We all know that he’s guilty as sin. That’s why I’ve advocated in this public forum and in general conversations that our magistrates and judges swap with our Caribbean counterparts so as to stomp out corruption and nepotism. However, I’ve heard from some that none of them wants to go. My thoughts, they’re scared that they will not perform up to standards. Our Caribbean magistrates and judges are more aggressive, more educated (even though they went to the same schools as ours) and deliver more eloquently in the courtroom. I don’t know if the Belizean public knows, but many of our magistrates and judges haven’t even made the grades in the past . They are now either doing classes here in Belize at the UWI campus and then struggle to try to finish the last two or three years outside. Many have had to go to different campuses in the Caribbean instead of the Mona Campus in Jamaica and then do their last year at Mona. Except for a few (Ms. Bennett’s son, Perrerra, two young ladies at Legal Aid, Perryfitte ( I think), most haven’t even made the grades to stay entirely at Mona. So, we see some come back and become magistrates only . I’ve had to deal with some legal matters in Belize and even your mayor is lacking in his legal knowledge and delivery. I might as well have been the attorney. However, to the ones like Ms. Carter, CRAZY PEREZ, and BACKSTABBING NICHOLAS (Yes Margaret, I know a lot of your dirt, even what you did to Carter when you got the contract for the two years), they don’t know better or try to know because it’s a collusion amongst the whole group of them. I’d see them thumbing through books while in court to try to come up with a justifiable explanation behind their ruling. Many times they didn’t even know what they were looking for. They quote and implement Caribbean laws or English laws when it’s convenient for them to get them off the hook. Palacios should have known better; he should have dotted his “i’s” and crossed his “t’s”. Belize is the only place that I see court is called and nobody knows the magistrate is on sick leave, or worst, on vacation. I saw recently where one adjourned court because he had to go to the hospital to visit someone. LOL. Castro can sponsor bike teams, replace two vehicles his sons crashed, have cable companies with his wife and sister but had to beg money for his mother’s funeral? Who is he fooling? On a different note, I heard and have subsequently read that Joe Bradley is embossed in yet another “dutty” scandal. He used his medium (Wave t.v. if my sources were right) to have Alberto August berate and degrade a young lady. That’s not a man Joe. In the US we call your type BAN, Bi..h A.s Nig.a. No respect for you at all. However, they didn’t think the young lady would have been so “ratchet” and blast them on facebook and hi5. That would have been a sight for the ages; in this corner Joe Bradley (weighing in at a 100 pounds butt naked), big belly Alfonso and short Alberto, all naked and “swordfighting” Now, your business gawn da broad. You sit on television and call people thief, crooks, liars but how quickly we forget. Remember Cooperatives Joe? You want me to remind you of the amount of money or what they could prove? You used to blast Novelos with the deal he got through PUP and Troy Gabb’s hustle at DFC. You shut up after a time. Aww, if those walls could talk when you’d meet Novelos in the bar on Daly street with the double doors. Your UDP government is doing the same thing PUP used to do. You all walk into DFC and demand that your flunkies get loans even when they don’t qualify and were denied. Ask Paul who took him in to DFC to get the loan for the two yellow and brown houses he has right at the entrance of Pen Road. I can name quite a few more. Remember Baby G Joe? Want me to name some more of the street women? This wasn’t your first tryst. You and North Front street , got your own hustle going. I know of many of them and the one that you’re licking your chops on after a certain contract is terminated sometime this year or at year’s end. I remember when your hustle was cleaning classrooms, painting buildings and signs at St. Ignatius and playing a little organ when your ex wife was struggling to try to teach and make the grade. Now, you’re mister “wanna be big shot.” Yes, I know a whole lot Joe. You know who I feel sorry for? Your adopted daughter, your sons, the engineer and Junior, who all seem so well grounded and still humble. Even your estranged wife had it to say that her son, the AMBITIOUS AND ARROGANT one is very important and doesn’t have time to waste. Be careful Joe.