It made headlines in September 2005: the police shooting of mental patient Egbert Gordon Junior in Los Lagos. Gordon had broken into the residence and barricaded himself inside. The police say they gave Gordon ample time to surrender and only shot him when he acted aggressively as if armed. But subsequent public outcry criticized the […]
Tonight both sides are claiming victory in the case of the Printers Association against the Government of Belize regarding the sale of the Printing Department three years ago. Following the sale, the Printers Association accused the government of violating the law by not selling the asset through public tender and alleged ethical wrongdoing by awarding […]
On Thursday, he walked out of court a free man but tonight forty-one year old Hubert Bennett is recovering from injuries he sustained trying to elude police custody. Acting on instructions from the Crimes Investigation Branch, around noon today officers spotted Bennett near the Belize City Magistrate’s Court and attempted to detain him on a […]
Another murder case in the Supreme Court had ended with the words Nolle Prosequi. Forty-one year old Hubert Bennett is a free man following an unsuccessful bluff by prosecutors. At the opening of the trial the Crown’s Kamar Henry offered the defendant a plea bargain, allowing him to plead guilty to manslaughter in exchange for […]
Former Social Security Chief Narda Garcia received another judicial setback today when Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh declined to allow her leave to appeal his earlier decision not to grant judicial review. Garcia’s earlier request to have the court review and quash the report of the Senate Select Committee investigating actions of the Social Security Board, […]
A man charged with molesting a ten year old girl has been acquitted. The case against forty-nine year old Hilberto Perez fell apart when a witness presented a solid alibi for the accused. Chief Magistrate Herbert Lord also cited other inconsistencies in the prosecution’s evidence. While Perez was acquitted on the charge of Aggravated Assault […]
Twenty-four year old Trevor Matthews, driver of a U.S. embassy vehicle that crashed, killing a passenger, has been arrested and charged with a number of crimes. Appearing before Magistrate Dorothy Flowers, Matthews was arraigned for Manslaughter by Negligence, Causing Death by Careless Conduct, Negligent Harm, Driving Without Due Care and Attention and Failure to Conform […]
Two years after a fatal traffic accident on the Northern Highway, a driver involved in the incident has been found guilty of related offences. On Monday, a jury of nine convicted forty-five year old Valentine Ferguson of Manslaughter by Negligence in connection with the death of thirty-two year old Shawn Smith on June nineteenth. On […]
A ruling in the Belize City Supreme Court late this afternoon by Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh has lifted an interim injunction against the Belize Times. Around three today, the C.J. set aside his earlier decision against the People’s United Party paper, which barred the Times from publishing anything further about Lois Young Barrow with regard […]
A convicted child sex offender has been sentenced to spend eighteen years behind bars. Forty-eight year old Edward Negron was found guilty of raping a twelve year old girl in October and today Justice Michelle Arana handed down her sentence. During trial it was revealed that while the child was asleep Negron attacked her, raped […]
Today thirty-six year old Kenroy Gladden appeared in the Supreme Court before Justice Troadio Gonzales where he pled guilty to the crime of grievous harm. Gladden, the 2001 winner of the Lionman Triathlon, was originally charged with attempted murder but Prosecutor Kamar Henry decided to accept the guilty plea to the lesser charge. The charges […]
Latin was once again the language of choice at the Supreme Court today as in two more cases the crown cried “nolle prosequi.” The prosecution of forty-seven year old Alfonso Guzman for Manslaughter by Negligence was halted when the main witness did not show up in court. That witness, believed to be in El Salvador, […]
On Friday he was found guilty of Rape, Aggravated Burglary, Aggravated Assault, and Threat of Death … and tonight justice was meted out to Kent Francis. Before he learned his fate, Francis spoke from the dock saying (quote) “I apologise if I have done any harm or anything to anybody. I am a family man […]
Nolle prosequi is a term we rarely used to hear, let alone understand … but lately it seems those Latin words are about to become part of the Kriol language. And tonight we’ll use it again. The case involves Darwin Mendez, charged with the 2003 murder of San Ignacio security guard Abelino Choc. According to […]
With all the acquittals, withdrawals and nolle prosequis in recent sexual assault cases, it comes as almost a shock to learn that a rapist has actually been convicted. He is forty-five year old Kent Francis of Belize City. This afternoon a jury of four men and five women found him guilty of Rape, Aggravated Burglary, […]
An officer at Hattieville Prison has been arrested after he allegedly helped an inmate to escape. Thirty-eight year old Wilfredo Gonzales was fingered by the convict he allegedly helped break-out of the correctional facility on October twenty-seventh. That prisoner, Roberto Garcia, told police after he was recaptured that Gonzales told him that he would let […]
The victims in two separate cases of rape in the Supreme Court have requested no further action against their accused assailants. The first case involves thirty-four year old Aris Cacho. It is alleged by a sixteen year old girl that on October twenty-seventh, 2005, she was at the same premises as Cacho, when he held […]
Chief Justice of Belize Abdulai Conteh has dismissed an application for judicial review from former Social Security Board general manager Narda Garcia to quash the report of the Senate Special Select Committee. Garcia’s motion, filed by former Solicitor General Elson Kaseke and attorney Oswald Twist, alleged that the Senate committee had violated natural justice during […]
A Guatemalan accused in a number of attacks against Cayo resorts, tour guides and tourists in the Cayo district has skipped bail. In July thirty year old Henry Gonzalez was one of three men charged with abetment to commit robbery in connection with the armed hold up of the Banana Bank resort in February. Subsequently, […]
A Belize City man caught red handed breaking into a school has been sentenced to spend the next eight years behind bars. According to police, around ten on Saturday morning they responded to reports of a burglary at the Holy Redeemer primary school on North Front Street. Officers say when they searched the ground floor […]
Meanwhile, two other police officers have been fined, in a case where they beat a man so badly, his spleen had to be removed. In May 2005, twenty-two year old Caye Caulker resident Luis Alcoser got into a confrontation with police constables Ricardo Cowo and John Mas. The argument came to blows and ended with […]
A Belize City man has been found guilty of rape. According to court reports, this morning forty-eight year old Edward Negron, accused of sexually assaulting a female relative was convicted of the crime by a jury of his peers. Justice Michelle Arana has set sentencing for November ninth. Negron was arrested and charged with rape […]
The Court of Appeal has denied the application by the Government of Belize for a stay of execution of the Supreme Court ruling that restores Jeffrey Prosser’s position on the board of Belize Telecommunications Limited. The ruling was presented this afternoon by Justice Manuel Sosa after fellow Justice Boyd Carey had stated that there was […]
A decision in the Court of Appeal regarding power surges and damaged appliances could have major implications for all of us who use electricity. Orange Walk resident David Madrid sued Belize Electricity Limited following an incident on December twenty-fourth 2002 that damaged or destroyed more than thirty thousand dollars worth of household appliances. Madrid says […]
Her dismissal was a direct result of the recommendations of the Senate Select Committee but tonight Narda Garcia is fighting back, determined not go down without a fight. According to court reports, this morning Garcia’s attorney, former Solicitor General, Elson Kaseke filed a motion in the Supreme Court asking that the committee’s report be quashed […]
