The sensational murder trial in which Maurice and Emory Felix stood accused, ended in a hung jury on Tuesday night after six hours of deliberations. The case was heard before Justice Troadio Gonzalez in the Corozal Supreme Court, but their two previous trials for the murder were held in the Belize City Supreme Court. The […]
A Guatemalan couple who were caught with fraudulent Belizean documents has been nabbed following an ongoing investigation by the Belize Immigration Department. It started back in March of this year when another Guatemalan national stepped into the Social Security office in Belize City to apply for a card. Alert officials detected irregularities in his documents, […]
Former freelance reporter, Joseph Budna, is facing decades behind bars in neighboring Guatemala. Budna has amassed two convictions for kidnappings and back on April twenty-first, Budna escaped from the Zacapa Regional Hospital where he was reportedly receiving medical attention. Despite three guards on watch, he managed to flee; he was caught three days later in […]
A man was set free today in court after his case file was not available for trial. Twenty-one year old Dion Brackett has been on remand since last year for the January fifth, 2013 murder of Marvin Foreman. Brackett, a resident of Central American Boulevard, was escorted to court in handcuffs this morning at about […]
Less than two weeks ago, an officer was sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of firearm and ammunition offenses. Tonight, Police Constable Brandon Hertular, accused of burglarizing the residence of Shirley Chicas during a home invasion in March 2012, has been found guilty. The decision was handed down this morning by […]
Last Friday, twenty-one year old Wilfred Ramirez attended the funeral of Julian Willoughby, an associate of his who was slain during a hail of gunfire the weekend before. While mourners gathered to pay their respect to the fallen youth, Ramirez was nearby armed with a sawed-off shotgun. He was caught red-handed shortly thereafter at the […]
On Thursday, the Caribbean Court of Justice ruled favorably on behalf of LGBT activist Maurice Tomlinson, granting him special leave to challenge the immigration acts of Belize and Trinidad & Tobago. The decision followed a suit which was filed in July of last year in which Tomlinson claims that the existing laws are prejudicial towards […]
A reserved judgment was handed down today via teleconference in the case of gay activist Maurice Tomlinson. The Caribbean Court of Justice which is the highest judicial institution for three CARICOM member states: Barbados, Guyana and Belize, has granted special leave for openly gay, LGBT activist Tomlinson to proceed with challenging the immigration acts of […]
Following the CCJ’s decision, Acting Solicitor General Nigel Hawke told the media that the legal victory for Tomlinson is simply the beginning of what will be a protracted argument from all three parties involved in the claim. Nigel Hawke, Acting Solicitor General, Belize “Leave is granted. This is just the first stage. We objected […]
Today, nineteen year old Visiona Carcamo was slapped with six criminal charges for the death of five year old Akeela Wade on April fourteenth. Wade was on a motorcycle being driven by Carcamo when it crashed into a bus in Belize City. It is a real tragedy. There were three persons on the motorcycle – […]
In July last year, the Gang Suppression Unit arrested a family of six and linked them to the discovery of a firearm, ammunition and week found inside a church adjacent to their home on Victoria Street. At the time, the GSU claimed that the Estrada/Jones family was using the church as a stash house. […]
Twenty-one year old Edward Cabanas was set free on March twenty-fifth for the stabbing death of his brother, but tonight, is once again on remand at the Belize Central Prison after being rearrested and charged a second time for the murder. Cabanas is accused of killing his sibling in December 2012 at their residence in […]
Another man was also re-arraigned for charges today. No sooner had twenty-eight year old Brandon ‘Battery’ Smith been freed of attempted murder when he was brought back before the court to face the same charges. On Monday, the chief magistrate dismissed a case against Brandon and Alrick Smith, following their arraignment in March 2013 for […]
On Monday, the Coye family enjoyed a short-lived legal victory when the Supreme Court ordered that their assets, amounting to millions of dollars in cash, be unfrozen. The family’s holdings have been fixed in various bank accounts since 2010, following a directive from the Financial Intelligence Unit, due to money laundering charges that were brought […]
According to Bradley, the injunction was filed without their knowledge. FOR VIDEO CLICK HERE. Via Phone: Richard ‘Dickie’ Bradley, Attorney for Coye Family “So, yesterday the judge gave an order. Arguments were also presented to her on behalf of a private company which is suing the Coyes claiming that they owe that company monies. Again, […]
The Caribbean Court of Justice convenes on Wednesday at its seat in Trinidad where it will hand down a decision in the case of Maurice Tomlinson versus the Government of Belize and Trinidad and Tobago. Tomlinson, an openly gay activist, is challenging Belize’s immigration laws, following a trip to the Jewel in which he claims […]
In March of 2013, police were reportedly engaged in a shootout with two alleged street figures. The incident involved Brandon Smith, aka Battery, a member of the PIV gang located in the Saint Martin De Porres area, and Ladyville resident, Alrick Smith. Alrick was allegedly shot in the abdomen and hospitalized, but none of the […]
A Belize City man from the Berries Street area of Saint Martin’s De Porres is tonight on remand at the Belize Central Prison after he was accused of robbing a Chinese Grocery Store on Tibruce Street of seven hundred dollars in cash and an assortment of items value three thousand five hundred dollars. He has […]
Just before midday this morning, the Supreme Court ruled that the financial assets of the Coye family, frozen by the FIU for years, were to be released. It is a final victory for the beleaguered family, following up on criminal vindication. But the financial windfall today was just a very fleeting thing. News Five has […]
Minister of State Edmond Castro was in the Supreme Court this morning, defendant in a private claim brought against him. On February twenty-sixth, 2014, a resident of Belize Rural North, Trevor Vernon, filed an application for what is called declaratory relief, petitioning the Court to rule that Castro violated his oath of office. The application […]
Fifty-two year old Brenda Mejia, who is the grandmother of three children, was today convicted of drug trafficking in the court of Chief Magistrate, Anne Marie Smith. While she escaped an immediate jail term, Mejia was fined ten thousand dollars. The Chief Magistrate ordered her to pay three thousand dollars by the end of the […]
A Belize City man was remanded today to the Belize Central prison for two weeks after he was accused of committing a sexual assault upon a female during which he also beat her up. The accused is twenty-six year old Justin Goff, a construction worker. This morning, Goff appeared before Magistrate Hettie Mae Stewart and […]
An elderly woman who made her way into the courtroom with the help of a walking stick was today charged with possession of a pipe. She is sixty-four year old Marjorie Pitts, a resident of Belize City who is employed to clean streets. Pitts was transferred to court in a van after being busted on […]
Five of thirteen mothers are taking legal action against the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital for negligence. An attorney has filed a claim against the hospital for the deaths which occurred between the months of April and May of 2013 due to the bacteria, enterobacter cloacae. The newborns had received an initial good prognosis, but died […]
Attorney Kareem Musa is also representing the grassroots organization, COLA in a private prosecution of former minister Elvin Penner who illegally issued a passport to a South Korean fugitive who had never set foot in Belize. Musa complained today that despite seeking the documentation, he has been running into roadblocks and there has generally been […]
