A man accused of the carnal knowledge of a fourteen year old is tonight free after he produced evidence that the victim had lied about her age. According to reports from the Belize City Supreme Court, thirty year old Dionicio Howard was charged with the offence after the father of the girl reported that in […]
A convicted child molester fined for his attack against an eight year old is tonight behind bars after authorities dug up a case file from the year 2000 which showed that he had been sentenced in absentia to seven years behind bars for another incident. According to court reports, Godfrey Coote was found guilty of […]
A child molester from the Belize District has been fined for an attack against an eight year old girl. According to court reports, Godfrey Coote was found guilty of aggravated assault after the child reported that he had oral sex with her in 2004. Throughout trial, Coote did not deny the incident. For the offence, […]
An escape artist who eluded police custody in May was this week sentenced for the offence. On Thursday, twenty-one year old Mark Medina was convicted of escape and sentenced to six months behind bars by Chief Magistrate Herbert Lord. On May twenty-eighth, Medina was shot in his right leg by police when authorities tried to […]
A Belize City man found guilty of rape in the Supreme Court has been remanded to prison until January eighth when he will be sentenced. A jury of nine people this evening convicted twenty-four year old Lauriano Ramirez of the rape and aggravated burglary of his ex-girlfriend. In addition to the rape and burglary, Ramirez […]
A man accused of breaking into the home of the Commander of the Belize Defence Force has been convicted and sentenced to serve five years in jail. Donald King of Democracia Village today pleaded guilty to burglarising the Ladyville home of Brigadier General Lloyd Gillett in the early morning hours of August twenty-sixth. Gillett told […]
This morning, convicted killer, police constable Sheldon Arzu was sentenced to thirteen years behind bars. From the bench Justice Troadio Gonzalez told the defendant: “You say the police have to make tough decisions to protect the public, but mistakes are made. You also say that this is not an abuse of power… Some sentences for […]
A police officer convicted of manslaughter appeared in Belize City Supreme Court today for mitigation plea hearings. Sheldon Arzu and his attorney Linsbert Willis appeared before Justice Troadio Gonzalez and argued that the jury opted to go with the charge of manslaughter as opposed to murder, giving credence to the assertion that the shooting was […]
A police officer has been convicted in the death of a Caye Caulker man in the Belize Supreme Court. This afternoon, after two and a half hours of deliberation, a jury of his peers found twenty-nine year old Sheldon Arzu guilty of manslaughter in the death of Ruben “Pony” Alarcon. Arzu was originally charged with […]
Meanwhile in the Supreme Court, the defence concluded its address in the murder trial of police constable Sheldon Arzu. Arzu is accused of shooting Caye Caulker resident Ruben “Pony” Alarcon on June seventh, 2003 at that island’s police station. During the trial, prosecutor Kamar Henry told the court that the case is “about the abuse […]
Meanwhile, in the Supreme Court today, sexual assault charges were dropped against two men for an incident involving a fourteen year old girl. According to court reports, prosecutor Marjorie Moyston has submitted an “offer of no evidence” in the case against twenty year old Robert Chavez and twenty-five year old Leon Perez, both of Gales […]
A Belize City man who tried to pull a fast one on a taxi driver has been found guilty and fined for his actions. Twenty-nine year old Shane Espinosa will have to pay three thousand dollars by December twenty-first or spend three years behind bars and keep the peace for a year. In July, Espinosa […]
A Belize Defence Force soldier who has apparently fled the country has been convicted in absentia and sentenced to three years in prison. Thirty-seven year old Eloy Hemmans of Belize City was accused of keeping prohibited ammunition and was found guilty by Chief Magistrate Herbert Lord after hearing the testimony of several witnesses. The ammo […]
A convicted murderer has been sentenced to life in prison. Twenty-one year old Harvey Lee Henderson of Corozal, found guilty last week in the chopping death of Alfonso Santos, was today spared the hangman’s noose by Justice Adolph Lucas. Noting that the killing could be classified as either a “Class A” or “Class B” murder, […]
A man was sentenced today in the Supreme Court for the unlawful carnal knowledge of a fourteen year old minor. Justice Adolph Lucas told Jaime Moreno that he was tempted to give him a very stiff sentence because the child’s aunt had told him to leave the girl alone due to her age. But since […]
A man who held up a young woman with a toy gun fared no better in Magistrate’s Court. Lincoln Ellis appeared before Magistrate Margaret McKenzie on Thursday and was sentenced to five years in prison. The case dates back to a report made in April by Alicia Lamb who says Ellis approached her on Mahogany […]
A jury has convicted a twenty-one year old man from Corozal of murdering a seventy-six year old orange vendor. The twelve member jury deliberated for four hours and found Harvey Lee Henderson guilty of killing Alfonso Santos on January eleventh, 2004. During the trial witnesses testified that Henderson, who appeared intoxicated, walked up to Santos […]
Also in the Supreme Court today, a young woman was acquitted of manslaughter charges in a case dating back four years. A jury found Emelia Roberts-Armstrong not guilty of the death of Wilfred Tench at the Los Cocos Bar in Belize City on December eighth, 2001. The defendant testified that Tench grabbed her in her […]
Four policemen convicted of theft last month have appealed those convictions to the Supreme Court. Vladimir Ortega, Jesus Dominguez, Filomeno Badillo, and Cornelio Andueza were found guilty in Magistrate’s Court of taking a hundred dollars from the cash register of Belize City grocer Dennis Chow. The incident, which occurred in March of 2002, was caught […]
And while we are not reporting on any new violent crime, the judicial process continues to move slowly on past offences. Today the murder trial of police officer Sheldon Arzu was scheduled to open in the Supreme Court but was postponed due to the introduction of new evidence by the prosecution. Prosecutor Kamar Henry told […]
While one trial has been postponed, another was concluded today with a verdict of guilty. Thirty year old Fernando Elijio was convicted of robbery by Chief Magistrate Herbert Lord and sentenced to five years in Hattieville Prison. On the night of January sixteenth Elijio placed a gun to the head of Michelle Davis on Central […]
Richard White, accused of killing Mark Tingling in 2004 walked free this evening in the Supreme Court. A jury of eight men and four women deliberated from before noon until four-thirty this evening, but found White not guilty of murder. They were unable to arrive at a decision on his manslaughter charge. The main witness […]
Despite yet another adjournment in the Belize City Supreme Court this morning, there is news to report tonight regarding the infamous case of passport scandal. Sitting in the dock this morning was fifty-eight year old Belize City businessman Jabor “Gabby” Affif, but Hassan El Sayed, the man charged jointly with him on more than a […]
One of the more bizarre sexual assault cases of last year has resulted in the dismissal of charges against two defendants. Twenty-two year old Clive Hyde and an eleven year old boy left the court of Chief Magistrate Herbert Lord unsullied today after the prosecution indicated that the alleged victim–and main witness–could not be located. […]
A man from Crooked Tree Village has been convicted of unlawful carnal knowledge following two days of proceedings in the Belize City Supreme Court. According to court reports, late Tuesday evening, a jury of seven women and two men took just over two hours to find twenty-nine year old construction worker Jaime Moreno guilty in […]
