Her decision to drop the charges has caused outrage, but when we called Director of Public Prosecutions, Cheryl-Lynn Branker-Taitt, to respond, she explained that there is a logical reason for her decision. Cheryl-Lynn Branker-Taitt, Director of Public Prosecutions “I don think it is the business of the D.P.P. to be calling into talk shows to […]
The murder of the Brannon brothers made headlines more than two years ago. From the onset there was speculation that the accused men would walk and that came to pass today when the indeed the two accused walked free today. The case started in early October and was adjourned due to administrative matters in the […]
And in the Belize City Magistrate Court, another nolle prosequi was entered when again the prosecution was unable to proceed with the case. This time twenty three year old Gregory Johnson, was freed of the charge of Attempted Murder of twenty-one year old Ismael Locke who was shot in the abdomen on October thirteenth, 2006. […]
Also in court, a mother has been charged with Causing Death by Careless Conduct. The charge against Pauline McLean has to do with a fire that claimed her son’s life. McLean’s son three year old Omar Aguilar, perished in the afternoon blaze at their home at eighteen Dean Street in Belize City. McLean’s other son, […]
Barrington Carr, a fifty-five year old paraplegic and former police constable, has been acquitted of Drug Trafficking. Carr got the good news today when he appeared in Magistrates’ Court and it appears that it was shoddy police work, which led Magistrate Roberto Ordonez to find Carr not guilty on a technicality. At three p.m. on […]
And in news from the courts, a bullet proof vest may not sound like much but it is enough for two men to spend Christmas and the New Year behind bars. Around three a.m. on Tuesday police were on mobile patrol when they received information about firearms at a house on Plues Street. When the […]
He said he had to kill them and now the verdict is in for thirty-four year old Ryan Horne. Horne was accused of brutally stabbing to death two sisters, Rosa and Sandra Esquivel. The trial took place in the court of Justice Adolph Lucas and a jury of seven men and five women deliberated for […]
The charge of abetment is not one that is reported often, but anyone who is charged with that offense can expect a maximum sentence of twenty years. Today, a jury of five women and four men deliberated and found twenty-eight year old Delita Chavez guilty of Abetment of Dangerous Harm on thirty-three year old Kimberly […]
In other news, there are only two more days until the Belize-Guatemala compromis for the I.C.J. is signed in Washington D.C., but tonight the National Trade Union Congress is making a last minute request to government to make the document public. According to the N.T.U.C.B. press release, the Belizean people have a right to know […]
Turning to another hot button issue, on Monday the document, which sets out the path to the I.C.J., will finally be signed in Washington by representatives of both Belize and Guatemala. But ever since it was announced that the compromis has been agreed upon, Belizeans far and wide have been expressing concern about what is […]
Their names are synonymous to the bus industry and since February of this year, they have been running into plenty of problems. And while it wasn’t a knockout victory for the Novelo brothers, the ruling today of Justice Samuel Awich has given them enough reason to proceed to the next round of legal battle with […]
In the Magistrate Court this morning, two accused gunmen were sentenced in absentia for two robberies that took place back in 2005. The two, twenty-six year old Maxwell Andersen and twenty year old Christopher Waight Betancourt were convicted of two counts of Robbery, Grievous Harm, and Keeping Unlicensed Firearms and Ammunition. While the men were […]
Also in Magistrates’ Court, Anthony McKay, a twice convicted felon who has been fingered in the recent robbery at the Atlantic Bank Collection Agency, was today charged with Burglary. McKay, a resident of Junesville, pleaded not guilty to the charge but was denied bail and will be in custody until January twenty-second, 2009. The culprit […]
Three years ago he was happy to be freed of an attempted murder charge, but that same charge has come back to haunt Herman Lanza. It was déjà vu for the thirty-four year old because the charges were reinstated by the Director of Public Prosecutions Cheryl Lyn Branker Taitt. Lanza was arraigned in the Magistrates’ […]
In court this morning, another round of arguments between the Mayan Leaders Alliance and the Government of Belize was heard. Preliminary objections were submitted in which the Mayan Leaders are attempting to convince the courts to extend to other areas, an earlier ruling which gave the Mayas communal rights in the Conejo and Santa Cruz […]
A renegade wanted by police for the shooting of Frederick Lynch a.k.a. “Diggidap” was today apprehended. Twenty-six year old Jervis Valencia was arrested and taken to court and charged with Attempted Murder, Grievous Harm and Use of Deadly Mean of Harm. Magistrate Albert Hoare took no plea from Valencia because the offences are indictable and […]
And in more news from the courts, two men were charged today with Keeping Prohibited Ammunition. Micah Thompson and Shelton Tillett August, both twenty-eight year old, were charged for the possession of fifteen rounds of point forty-five calibre bullets. Both men pleaded not guilty to the charge, but because bail is not allowed, Chief Magistrate […]
Also in court, a Security guard who was charged with Drug Trafficking a few months ago is today relieved of the charge. On April eleventh, the police searched an apartment building on Flamboyant Street and they saw Eldon Thomas running out of the building into some bushes in a vacant lot. When the police searched […]
He stabbed two sisters to death in cold blood and now a doctor has declared him fit to stand trial after spending more than two years in prison awaiting trial. Ryan Horne is accused of brutally stabbing the Esquivel sisters, seventeen year old Rosa and eighteen year old Sandra without any apparent provocation while they […]
Darren Banks is no stranger to the law and he was recently charged jointly with Steven Zelaya for two counts of Attempted Murder. When he appeared in the court of Chief Magistrate Margaret McKenzie for trial this morning he was acting strangely. Banks was speaking incoherently, saying strange things including that he was seeing snakes […]
In the Magistrates’ Court meanwhile, a fisherman was today fined two thousand dollars for Indecent Assault upon his sister-in-law. Forty year old Charles Arzu has until December twenty-ninth to pay the fine and if he defaults he will spend two years in prison. The incident in question occurred on September twenty-ninth. According to the complainant, […]
Also in the court, a man was acquitted of charges of Attempted Murder and grievous harm when the complainant refused to have any further court actions against him. Twenty-two year old Gilbert Canaquie of Rivero Street was freed of the charges today and left the court a free man after his grand uncle, seventy-five year […]
He was hit with thirteen charges for the December 2005 shooting in Taylor’s Alley which left four persons injured, but last year the charges were dropped against twenty-three year old Brandon Michael, leaving his victims to wonder if justice would ever be served. Tonight the news from the courts is that Michael has been rearrested […]
In the justice system meanwhile, there have been far too many cases of accused killers getting off murder charges when witnesses refuse to testify; this has the public and the courts wary. In the most recent case today, however, the accused walked free and the witness spent the night behind bars. It involves the trial […]
In other court news, a retrial has been ordered for postman, forty-seven year old Rudolph Smith, a man charged with Causing Death by Careless Conduct. This evening the jury of six women and three men deliberated for almost three hours and were unable to reach a verdict in the court of Justice Herbert Lord. Smith […]
