In Magistrates’ Court today, a hefty serving of bad news was dished out to a Belize City man. Forty-five year old Hubert Bennett was found guilty of Manslaughter and sentenced to seventeen years, retroactive to November seventeenth, 2006 when Bennett was arrested for a second time following the death of an eighteen year old. When […]
In the Dangriga Supreme Court, a police constable was hit with a major sentence today. Justice Troadio Gonzalez ordered twenty-three year old Juan Pop to spend twelve years behind bars after the jury deliberated for almost two and a half hours and unanimously found him guilty of the carnal knowledge of a thirteen year old […]
Also in the Supreme Court, this past Wednesday twenty-one year old Edward Lord Jr., beat a murder charge in the killing of Crip Leader, George Junie Balls McKenzie. Crown Counsel Trienia Young submitted that the prosecution had no further evidence to offer after Justice Adolph Lucas did not accept as evidence a statement made by […]
In the Belmopan Court today, a preliminary inquiry in a charge of Theft against former Government Minister Ralph Fonseca came to an end. Fonseca was charged in connection with ten million U.S. dollars provided last year to the government of Belize by the government of Venezuela. In front of a packed courtroom, Belmopan Magistrate Earl […]
But while the Fonseca camp is in a celebratory mood, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Cheryl-Lynn Branker-Taitt, was taken aback by the ruling. At the PI on February fifth Fonseca’s three attorneys, Dickie Bradley, Francis Fonseca and Michael Peyrefitte took about four hours in submissions as to why there was no evidence to proceed to […]
Last Friday we reported the arrest of the captain of the Caribe Mariner, Whitman Gentle. Gentle spent the weekend in the lock up and today, the twenty-nine year old Honduran boat captain was charged in Magistrates’ Court with Recklessly Causing a Disaster that Resulted in a Loss of the Use of the Environment. He was […]
In other court news, a construction worker has been remanded to prison, accused of robbing a fruit vendor. This morning twenty year old Cornel Gomez pleaded not guilty to the crime of Robbery in Magistrate’s Court, but because the offence in question was committed with a firearm, he was not granted bail. Gomez was instead […]
Two young men have been remanded into custody for attempting to rob and burglarize separate bakeries. The first incident occurred around two-thirty on Thursday at Wahlon’s Bakery on Euphrates Avenue. According to Shane Alarcon, an employee of the bakery, he was inside the shop when a young man entered. Alarcon says that as the teen […]
A brawl and contradictory statements between two men has resulted in charges against both. The culprits are videographer Fortunato Noble and jeweler Ivorr Perez who, around ten-thirty Friday night, became embroiled in a fight. According to Perez, it was Noble who attacked him while he was walking on Orange Street. But Noble is alleging that […]
After three hours of deliberations, a jury of seven women and two men today found a man Guilty of Rape. Thirty year-old Jimmy Jerry Espat was convicted of the rape of a thirty year old Canadian woman, which occurred around one-thirty on the morning of April first, 2007 in a cemetery in Santa Elena Town, […]
A fisherman of King’s Park who is accused of committing two separate hold-ups at different locations was today denied bail after he pleaded not guilty before Chief Magistrate Margaret McKenzie. He was denied bail because the offenses were allegedly committed with a firearm. Because there were six people inside one of the stores at the […]
A prison officer, who is also a former B.D.F. soldier, was formally charged with Theft in Magistrates’ Court today after he allegedly stole a wallet containing nine hundred dollars. Twenty-nine year old Shedrack Martinez pleaded not guilty to the charge and was offered and met bail of fifteen hundred dollars. His case was adjourned until […]
Also in Magistrates’ Court, a man who was sentenced two weeks ago to eight years imprisonment for two counts of Robbery managed to win a case today in which he was facing the same charge for a different incident. Nineteen year old Burley Card won the case today when the complainant, twenty-two year old Giles […]
He should know right from wrong and was expected to be at school but tonight a teacher is behind bars after he pleaded guilty to burglary. Fifty-one year old Stephen O’Brien, also known as “O.B.”, taught arts and craft at Tubal Institute, a boys’ school in Ladyville. But he will now spend three years in […]
An eighteen year old and four minors were arraigned on robbery charges this afternoon in Magistrate’s Court. A seventeen year old, two sixteen year olds, a thirteen year old and eighteen year old Godfrey Ramsey all pleaded not guilty and were offered bail of five thousand dollars each on the condition that they do not […]
And while judges were busy this morning with the swearing in of the new judge, this afternoon a Belize City man was remanded to prison after being arraigned on charges of Burglary. Thirty-three year old Richard Codd was charged with the burglary of El Paso Fast Food when he appeared in Magistrates’ Court. The prosecution […]
A jury of five women and seven men deliberated for a little over four hours today before it unanimously found forty-five year old Hubert Bennett, a.k.a. “Yankee”, not guilty of Murder but guilty of Manslaughter in the fatal stabbing of eighteen year old Tiquan Emmanuel who was killed around midnight on August twentieth, 2005 in […]
Three persons, one of them a seventeen year old boy, were charged in connection with the robbery of Brads Store on West Collet Canal, when they appeared today in Magistrates’ Court. The minor and twenty-two year old Robert Tracey were charged with robbery, while thirty-three year old Stephanie Copious, the minor’s sister, was charged with […]
After the court case, over a hundred Mayas made their way to the Radisson Fort George where they held a press conference. At the meeting members of the M.L.A. and the T.A.A. expressed their frustration that once again justice will be delayed for the Mayas. The citizens also called on the government to stop stalling […]
The other hot button topic at the conference was the releases sent out by the Toledo Cacao Grower’s Association. According to the T.C.G.A., the Maya Leaders Alliance and Toledo Alcalde Association had not fully consulted with the villagers before acting on their behalf. They also say that the communal land system would not work in […]
While Courtenay’s case is straightforward and the contract will be re-drawn as agreed to by the NICH board, there is a new twist. Kaseke and Smith are arguing that since the site has not been declared an archaeological reserve, then all the visitor fees to the cave that Jaguar Paw handed over to NICH over […]
It was one of the most horrendous killings in the south of Belize, when in September of 2007 the nude body of nineteen year old Mirna Figueroa was found in some bushes off a dirt road about two miles into the Hopkins Road. She had been sexually molested and strangled to death and near her […]
And we turn to the courts, last Thursday a jury found twenty-year old Robert Gillett not guilty of Manslaughter, but convicted him of a Burglary charge… and today Gillett received a sentence of eight years for that offence. Before Justice Adolph Lucas handed down the ruling, he heard mitigation pleas from Gillett’s attorney, Anthony Sylvestre, […]
And yet another person has been fined ten thousand dollars for Drug Trafficking. The latest culprit is twenty-four year old Steve Arnold, a resident of Ladyville, who was today found guilty of the crime. Arnold’s charge arose from an incident on August twenty-third 2008. Police report that they were on mobile patrol on Main Street […]
Last Friday Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh ruled against the Government of Belize, calling their proposed amendment to section seventeen of the constitution incompatible with the basic structure of the supreme document as it makes access to the court unavailable. Businessman Barry Bowen and the Landowners Association challenged the amendment in the case, which also had […]
