Justice Herbert Lord is expected to make a ruling on Monday in a voir dire that preceded the actual murder trial of Patrick Harris. Justice Lord decided this week to enter the voir dire (a hearing within the actual trial) to determine whether or not Crown Counsel, Portia Ferguson, will be allowed to enter as […]
Jury trials are being phased back in Dangriga in the Southern Judicial District. Justice Antoinette Moore presided over the first case where members of the public were empanelled to sit through a trial and to judge a man’s fate. For the past year, criminal trials have been conducted with only the Supreme Court Judges presiding over […]
Police say he beat his common-law wife with a hammer in December. But tonight, his attorney has gotten him out on bail. Just days before Christmas, it is alleged that Joel Bardalez used a hammer to beat Sindey Tut, a mother of four children, in her face, breaking some facial bones. Now Bardalez, who is charged […]
A Belize City woman is facing possible jail time or a fine if she is found guilty of assaulting her niece on February eighteenth. Kendra Madrill, a resident of Fredrick Street, was taken before Magistrate Stephanie Gillett today to face a charge of Common Assault upon Michelle Stewart, who lives on the upper flat at the […]
A fisherman is spending his first night on remand at the Belize Central Prison on a charge of Abetment to Commit Attempted Murder for a shooting that occurred in January that left a man hospitalized for several days. Calvert Humes of Belize City was arraigned before Magistrate Stephanie Gillett today. He was formally read the charge […]
This morning Supreme Court Justice Westmin James handed down his ruling regarding Ian Haylock and the Attorney General of Belize. Haylock, through his attorneys, former PM Dean Barrow and former Senate President Darrell Bradley, successfully managed to convince Justice Westmin that he has an arguable case related to the appointment of Estelle Leslie as Comptroller […]
Senior Counsel Andrew Marshalleck also reacted to the judgment. Marshalleck represented Estelle Leslie as an interested party on the matter. Like Bradley, Marshalleck is not surprised by the decision that Justice Westmin handed down. He says that the claimant does have an arguable case, but during the trial, he would further prove that consultations were […]
Marshalleck explains that the case is not about the Prime Minister’s decision to choose Estelle Leslie because that cannot be challenged. In fact on the matter of seniority, Marshalleck says that his client feels that she is as entitled to hold the post as Haylock. Andrew Marshalleck, Attorney for Estelle Leslie “There can […]
Attorney Darrell Bradley disagrees that the case is not merely academic. He says that the constitution dictates that meaningful consultations should be had. Bradley says that he does not believe that the post of comptroller of customs is too important not to be left vacant, since it has been vacant before. Darrell Bradley, Attorney […]
The nine men nabbed following the drug plane landing on February fifth today received Supreme Court bail. The men were charged with possession of a controlled drug with the intent to supply after being found with two bales of cocaine. They were also charged for breach of curfew. Special Patrol officer Tyrell Talbert, Police Constable […]
Senior customs officer Ian Haylock is suing Prime Minister John Briceño and challenging Estelle Leslie’s appointment as Comptroller of Customs. Haylock strongly believes that he was overlooked and deserves the post based on seniority and experience. In a three and a half-hour virtual session this afternoon, Haylock was represented by former Prime Minister Dean Barrow […]
Twenty-nine-year-old Shane Harris is no stranger to the law; in fact, his most recent brush on record was in April 2018 when he was arrested and charged for his involvement in an armed robbery in Belmopan. Harris was subsequently released on bail on the condition that he cannot be on the streets between eight-thirty p.m. […]
This morning in Orange Walk Town, nine men detained since Friday morning following the crash landing of a drug plane with dozens of bales of cocaine were arraigned in that jurisdiction’s magistrate’s court. Represented by attorneys Dickie Bradley and Leeroy Banner, the men were slapped with a drug trafficking offence and for violating a quarantine […]
Today, the Supreme Court handed down a big win for two police officers with dreadlocks. The Court’s says the Belize Police Department’s disciplinary action on females in the force with dreadlocks infringes on their freedom of expression, among other rights. Supreme Court Justice Sonya Young handed down that decision today. You’ll recall that in May […]
So, as you heard, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the female cops on the force who were being disciplined about their dreadlocks. Attorney Leslie Mendez explained that while the decision found that the women’s rights were infringed, there was no decision made for the Police Department to amend that regulation on the books. […]
The indigenous communities in the south have collectively prevailed in the courts since they initiated legal action against the Government of Belize in the nineties. The fight has always been over continued incursions on Maya lands. Six years ago, the C.C.J. upheld the ruling of the Court of Appeal in respect of the common law […]
Upon assuming office in November of last year, the People’s United Party created a specific ministerial portfolio for Indigenous People’s Affairs. That responsibility was given to Belize Rural Central area representative Dolores Balderamos-Garcia, also the Minister of Human Development. This morning, she sat in as a guest during the compliance hearing and was called upon […]
In acknowledging government’s solemn undertaking, M.L.A. spokesperson Cristina Coc says that they are elated by the newfound will to respect and recognize the traditional institutions of the indigenous community. Cristina Coc, Spokesperson, M.L.A. “We are pleased to report then that we have received clear indication from the new government that they will respect and […]
The government will appoint a new commissioner to deal with the carrying out of the C.C.J.’s consent order regarding the issue of Maya land rights and the appellate court’s ruling in the days ahead. On Thursday, however, the Government of Belize will be reporting to the Caribbean Court of Justice with an update on the […]
A new year is underway on the legal calendar, commencing on a somber note as the judiciary laments the dire straits in which it finds itself once again. With a bottleneck of undelivered decisions and pending cases brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, the budget set aside for the work of the third […]
The woman police officer who investigators believe murdered well-known barber Fareed Ahmad was acquitted of that charge on Friday. W.P.C. Michelle Brown walked out a free woman after Supreme Court Justice Colin Williams ruled that prosecutors presented insufficient evidence against Brown, not satisfying the court that Brown was guilty of the December 2017 murder of Ahmad. […]
We begin tonight’s newscast from the Supreme Court in Belize City with a ruling in the murder case involving well-known barber Fareed Ahmad. On December twenty-eighth, 2017 Ahmad was killed. He died while receiving treatment at the K.H.M.H. after he was shot in the head inside his vehicle that crashed on the side of the […]
Cassian Billary of Warrie Street in Belize City was arraigned before Senior Magistrate Aretha Ford for the murder of nineteen-year-old Micah Baltazar. Billary couldn’t be offered bail and no plea was taken because the charge is an indictable offence to be tried only in the Supreme Court. He was remanded to prison today. On Monday […]
The murder trial of P.C. Michelle Brown ended today in the Belize City Supreme Court after closing submissions by both the prosecution and defense before Justice Colin Williams. Justice Williams will deliver his verdict next Friday in a case that went on for almost three weeks and involved sworn testimonies from twenty prosecution witnesses. Some […]
Michelle Brown, the police constable who is standing trial for the shooting murder of Belize City barber Fareed Ahmad, told the court in an explosive testimony on Tuesday that it was another lawman who had entered Ahmad’s vehicle and shot him. In a session that ended late in the evening, Brown testified under oath that […]
