Thirty-eight year old Wesley Emmanuel was today freed of murder charges in the death of thirty-six year old Emigdio Gomez which occurred in July of 2008. In a voir dire, Justice Troadio Gonzalez did not allow into evidence a caution statement taken from Gomez by police, on the basis that it was given under duress […]
On July seventeenth, a Crooked Tree woman was sentenced to three years and a ten thousand dollar fine for one point two grams of crack found on her. She was given until November to pay the fine, in default of which she would serve another three years. With that done, she was taken away to […]
The Caribbean Court of Justice handed down a six-page decision today in respect of an application by the Ya’axche Conservation Trust which sought special leave to appeal a March fourteenth decision by the Belize Court of Appeal. The C.C.J. refused the application ruling that the N.G.O. had failed to meet the required threshold to proceed […]
In the hours following the grisly murder of sixteen-year-old Chryslin Gladden on Saturday, Belize City police arrested and detained a person of interest whom they believed could have assisted in their investigation. Forty-three-year-old Phillip Cattouse was held in detention for almost three days, under suspicion that he was involved in the brutal stabbing of the […]
The gruesome murder of a sixteen year old at the Lord Ridge Cemetery has dominated the newscast since the beginning of the week. Chryslin Gladden, a promising Wesley High School student, was stabbed multiple times; her body was found inside the cemetery on Saturday morning. Immediately following the murder, reports surfaced that a […]
A pregnant woman managed to trick the police while she was in their custody at the K.H.M.H. Thirty year-old Sandra Thompson, a mother and resident of a Belama Phase Three address, escaped from the hospital while under police watch. This morning, Thompson was brought to court and an hour later, her common-law husband, Richard Smith […]
The driver for the Foreign Minister Sedi Elrington was busted at the U.D.P. Convention on Sunday by police who allegedly found him to be in possession of marijuana. This morning, thirty-six year old Dorain Avilez was before the court to answer to a single charge of Possession of a Controlled Drug. Avilez was arraigned and he quickly […]
Also in court today was Belize City businessman, fifty-seven year old Dennis Gabourel. The tour guide of Antelope Street Extension is facing a charge of Attempting to Suppress Evidence in respect of a rape charge against him. Gabourel is accused of offering his alleged victim five thousand dollars to drop the rape charge against him. […]
A twenty-one year old Belize City man has been charged for the gun rampage on Mopan Street which caused the death of two tacos vendors. Fifty-two year old Carlos Mayorga died instantly after he was shot in the back of the neck. Forty-two year old Alida Ascencio was shot twice, and died two days after […]
Twenty-two year old George Street affiliate Andrew Talbert was today sentenced to ten years for an unlicensed firearm and ammunition. Talbert, who lives on Allenby Street, was busted in January 2013 with a mine millimeter Glock pistol and one round of ammunition. Police say Talbert ran from them behind a yard at the corner of […]
In June, a twenty-three year old mother of three died in the flames which destroyed Kimmie’s Bar, located on Newtown Barracks in Belize City. Today, the man police believe is responsible for the fire which killed Jackie Arteaga was formally arraigned for her murder. Twenty-three year old Francisco Rodriguez, a Wilson Street resident and […]
An Orange Walk couple who owns a bakery in Ladyville were today in the Belize Magistrate’s Court where they were read a single charge of handling stolen goods. Fifty-four year old Ernesto Cruz and fifty-two year old Anna Christina Cruz were charged in relation to an I-pad belonging to attorney and politician Arthur Saldivar. […]
A manslaughter trial concluded today in which a step-son was tried for butchering his step-father at their Vernon Street house in March, 2007. Twenty-five year old Justin Emmanuel Orillana was on trial for a second time, but this time for manslaughter and not murder. That’s because, in September 2012, a jury of twelve found Orillana […]
A trial by judge without jury concluded before Justice Denis S. Hanomansigh in the Dangriga Supreme Court session. But the accused, identified as Devon Logan, who is out on bail, will have to wait until the next sitting of the Supreme Court to learn his fate. Logan is accused in the November 2012 attempted murder […]
An unemployed domestic of the Ladyville area, who in September 2013 was charged jointly with her boyfriend for allegedly luring a fourteen year-old minor into their car, was back in court today. Both Stacey Leslie and John Williams, allegedly sexually assaulted the minor. He was charged for carnal knowledge and Leslie for Committing an Indecent […]
Jamie Dawson was twenty-three years when he was first accused of a murder but was instead convicted of manslaughter. Now at the age of thirty five, and after waiting eight years for a retrial, Dawson chose to plead guilty to manslaughter; a plea which the office of the D.P.P. had no objections to. Also known […]
Margaret Vasquez, her daughter, Kimberly Betran and son-in-law, Martin Matura were before the court late this afternoon to answer to the charges of Kept Unlicensed Firearm and Ammunition without a Gun License. It follows the discovery at their house on Unity Street of a point thirty eight revolver loaded with three live rounds of ammunition. Only […]
Another land dispute which was put to rest today involves a parcel near the municipal airstrip in San Pedro which is under construction by Tropic Air. The airline company was in the process of expanding its operations on the island by building a maintenance facility when it received a stop order on June nineteenth. The […]
The ongoing dispute between the Belize Grassroots Youth Empowerment Association, BGYEA, and the Government of Belize, over the use of the road reserve adjacent to Harmonyville, will see both parties attempting to resolve the matter amicably through mediation. Since making public its intention to plant corn within the buffer zone, BGYEA has come under intense […]
While BGYEA and government have been given a forty-five day window during which the matter should be discussed and resolved, the proceedings will be kept off the record. According to Matura-Shepherd, the idea of settling issues behind closed doors helps to ease an otherwise overloaded court system. Audrey Matura-Shepherd, Attorney for BGYEA “Whatever is […]
There was a murder on San Pedro on Wednesday morning, which is believed to have been the cause of a domestic dispute; a twenty-eight year old tour guide on the island was stabbed multiple times and succumbed after he hemorrhaged from an injury to the left thigh. Felix Alamilla was sleeping at a rental house […]
Coming up, we’ll have a report on the fatal traffic accident… But in the court, a twenty-three-year-old man along with his sixteen year old girlfriend, who is originally from Honduras, were both remanded into custody today when they appeared before the Belize City Magistrate’s Court. They were both charged for their alleged involvement in […]
Elvin Penner walks….A decision was handed down today in the case of Elvin Penner, who facilitated the issuance of a passport to South Korean fugitive, Won Hong Kim. The former government minister admitted in an email that he, “Personally went with Kim to the passport office to see to it that he would get proper […]
A case management conference was held at the Caribbean Court of Justice this morning in a suit brought against the governments of Belize and Trinidad & Tobago by Jamaican gay rights activist Maurice Tomlinson. On May eighth, the CCJ handed down a decision granting Tomlinson special leave to challenge the immigration acts of both countries. […]
Belize City businesswoman Heidi Andrades appeared unrepresented in magistrates’ court today where she pleaded guilty to a fisheries offense after being busted with thirty-nine undersized lobster tails at her restaurant. On Thursday, July tenth, fisheries officer Maurice Westby visited Admiral Restaurant, located at the Municipal Airstrip, and conducted a search of the premises. There, he […]
