Two men who were linked to a box of pseudo-ephedrine tablets found at the Taca warehouse in 2008 were acquitted of the charge of importing prohibited goods. The question whether the pills were indeed pseudo-ephedrine or simply ephedrine was debated in court and led to the ruling made by Revenue Magistrate Ed Usher. Attorney Darrell […]
The case of former government minister Joe Coye versus Alfred Shackron came to an end today and it did not go well for Coye who has now lost the charges he brought against Shackron. The case goes back to April 2008 when Coye was first charged with obtaining property by deception and theft. Through his […]
There have been numerous murders in Belize over petty arguments, and the fatal stabbing of eighteen year old Allen Sutherland was one of those cases. Sutherland was allegedly killed in a confrontation over a video game in November of 2006 and over three years later, the accused man walked free. Kent Pandy was today acquitted […]
A parolee who has been out of prison for over a year may see his parole revoked. That is because thirty year old Eric Martinez, also known as “Junie H”, who was shot in the buttocks last Thursday, is now accused in an assault that took place prior to the shooting. Martinez was shot last […]
The Court of Appeal opened on Monday and most of the cases dealt with so far are for rape convictions. Judges of the Court are President Elliot Mottley, and Justices Manuel Sosa, and Dennis Barrow. Levi Jackson’s appeal as the first heard. Jackson was convicted on May eight, 2009 for the rape of an employee […]
The missing M-sixteen rifle that disappeared from two sleeping B.D.F. soldiers and one police officer two weeks ago has been found in an open lot and police are of the view that the person who stole it, led them to it. The missing M-sixteen was found last Friday, at about six a.m., in a bushy […]
A former island manager finds himself in trouble with the law tonight after he was slapped with two counts of Possession of False Documents. Sandhill resident, twenty three year old Colin John Searle was allegedly busted with a false Belize driver’s license and a false Belize Bank cheque belonging to the government. Searle, a former […]
He is accused of hitting a police constable in the head with a piece of lumber so today Luke McFadzean was hit two criminal offences when he appeared in Magistrates’ Court. McFadzean had to answer to charges of Attempted Murder and Aggravated Assault for the alleged attack on twenty-two year old Acasio Tec of Hattieville. […]
On Thursday police constable, Richard Polonio, breathed a sigh of relief after he was freed of a Murder charge that came about after the fatal shooting of forty-nine year old Carmen Herrera in 2008. Polonio was acquitted of the charge because Justice John Troadio Gonzalez felt that the evidence against him was not strong enough […]
A San Pedro resident, Eladio Balam, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of causing death by careless conduct in the accidental death of an eight-year-old boy. In May 2007, forty-five old Eladio Balam, accidentally reversed his Bobcat tractor into Jose Raudeles who was walking his bicycle from school on his way home. This morning, Balam, […]
A cop in 2008 admitted to firing a shot just moments before a man in the same vicinity was killed by a gunshot blast. But that was not enough evidence to seal a conviction against twenty-four year old Richard Polonio, who was attached to the Queen Street Patrol Branch. Justice John Troadio Gonzalez directed a […]
In the local courts, the common-law wife of a man on remand has brought a charge against a tour guide. Twenty-nine year old Geraldine Castillo has accused Dennis Tillett of shooting at her. But according to Tillett, Castillo fabricated the story because he refused to drop a case against her husband, who is now awaiting […]
On Tuesday, we told you about an ammunition bust on Cairo Street that led to the arrest of former high school student, Mark Usher Junior, of Faber’s Road. Well today, the story continues to unravel and two others have been arrested and charged for Handling Stolen Goods. On February nineteenth at about nine p.m., on […]
Thirty-one year old Winston Wesley Brininstool, a U.S. national backpacking through Belize, interrupted his vacation when he was intercepted with a small amount of weed. He was charged by Belize City police with possession of three point six grams of marijuana. On Tuesday afternoon, while crossing the Swing Bridge a police officer on duty observed […]
Closing arguments were made today in the land case between Benque Viejo businessman, Samuel Bruce and the Government. Attorney for Bruce, Senior Counsel Said Musa and Priscilla Banner for the Attorney General’s Ministry ended two days of court battle over the four point four acre portion of land in dispute. On Tuesday Chief Justice Abdulai […]
We have been following the legal battle between a civilian and the government over a property in Benque Viejo del Carmen. The trial inched one step closer to completion today when the trial judge, Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh, headed west to visit the location in question. Last month Benque Viejo businessman, Samuel Bruce, got an […]
The government’s attorney, Priscilla Banner, argued that the motive for acquiring the land is reasonable since it is for the improvement of education. But Musa countered that Benque Viejo is well-endowed with land and taking over Bruce’s was not necessary. As for Bruce, he says that he had gotten the verbal consent of Area Representative, […]
A farmer who stabbed a fourteen year old girl from Caye Caulker multiple times in 2004, today pleaded guilty to use of deadly means of harm with intent to cause unlawful wound. In April 2004 at the age of eighteen, Eber Guerra, a father of a three year-old girl, was accused of trying to kill […]
He was kicked out of high school in January after he was charged with Attempted Murder for a stabbing incident on Fabers Road that landed one man in the hospital. Today Mark Usher Junior was back in court and it seems he’s changed his weapon of choice because this time he is charged for allegedly […]
A distraught mother and her sixteen year old daughter reported to police that on February seventh two women stormed their home and beat the minor brutally. Two sisters, Shantel and Sherae Robateau, have been named as the culprits and while they may have won that fight, the battle is now before the courts. Twenty-six year […]
There was a shooting in Belize City that has landed a repeat offender before the courts. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, residents of the Elston Kerr Street area were awaken by sounds of gunshots as two alleged gunman opened fire but missed their intended target, a city tour guide. One of the men […]
While Ham makes his second appearance in the court, Steffon Anderson, has appeared in Magistrates’ Court three times before and on each occasion he was convicted of drug related offences. It was déjà vu today as thirty-two year old Anderson was charged after being caught with weed for a fourth time. He pleaded guilty to […]
Last Thursday, we reported that the ordinarily quiet community of Sandhill was rattled when the only gas station was held up and the employees bound before being robbed of almost five thousand dollars in cash and items. By today police had bangled and escorted not one but three Sandhill residents to the Magistrate’s Court to […]
Also in court, this morning Justice Troadio Gonzalez empanelled the jury to hear the case against interdicted officer Richard Polonio, who was attached to the patrol branch. Polonio was initially charged with manslaughter but that charge was changed to murder and the trial started promptly. Polonio is accused in the shooting death of Carmen Herrera, […]
Meanwhile, it turned out better for another ex-cop who was on trial. Francis Ogaldez was accused of extorting four hundred dollars from Ladyville residents, Windell White and his common-law-wife, Sonia Guerra last September fourteen. A jury of nine persons asked the court for more time when they could not reach a verdict but after almost […]
