In more court news, two Belize City brothers have pleaded not guilty to handling stolen goods in connection with the confiscation of more than four hundred and fifty pieces of lumber. Twenty-seven year old Thomas Staine and thirty year old Walter Staine of Tigris Street, who identified themselves as deliverymen to the court, were granted […]
The incident occurred over three years ago, but today four law enforcement officers were finally held accountable for their crimes. Police Officer Vladimir Ortega and Special Constables Jesus Dominguez, Filomeno Badillo, and Cornelio Andueza were found guilty of theft and were fined five hundred dollars each by Chief Magistrate Herbert Lord. Whoever cannot pay by […]
A mechanic convicted of rape and other charges was sentenced to ten years in prison today in the Supreme Court. Dennis Gabourel appeared before Justice Adolph Lucas and following a lengthy mitigation plea by defence attorney Hubert Elrington, was given eight years for rape, three years for grievous harm, and two years for aggravated assault. […]
A high school teacher who was accused of three counts of carnal knowledge seventeen months ago was acquitted today in the Supreme Court. An eight-woman, one-man jury found Norman Rodriguez not guilty after the teen, who was fourteen at the time of the alleged incidents, gave conflicting testimony. At one point the minor could not […]
A child molester who was caught in the act was today given a fine instead of time in prison. Gregorio Cacho was found guilty of aggravated assault in Magistrate’ Court and fined one thousand dollars. Several witnesses testified against him including a twenty-three year old woman who said she went to the victim’s home to […]
A Belize City businessman has been convicted of rape. Forty-eight year old Dennis Gabourel was found guilty on a single count of rape plus a charge of aggravated assault by a jury on Friday evening following three hours of deliberations. The charges arose out of events occurring on September nineteenth 2003, when Gabourel’s ex-common-law wife […]
He was missing in action at his first hearing, but when he showed up in court today, the man accused of shooting at a cop learned that justice can be swift. Thirty-one year old Lincoln Robinson pleaded guilty to four charges resulting from an exchange of gunfire near Queen’s Square Anglican School a year ago. […]
The man who posted a surety for Supreme Court no-show Hassan El-Sayed, has lost his two hundred thousand dollars. Today, Justice Adolph Lucas ordered Haisan El-Batihish to immediately forfeit and turn over possession of the property located in Buttonwood Bay, when El-Sayed once again failed to appear. El-Sayed, along with Gabby Affif, has been accused […]
Chief Magistrate Herbert Lord today ruled that four police constables accused of robbery and aggravated assault do have a case to answer with respect to the robbery charge and that the trial will continue. As for the charges of aggravated assault brought by Goldburn Adolphus, the Chief Magistrate agreed with defence attorney Simeon Sampson that […]
He’s been bailed twice and tried three times, but today Mark Gardiner was acquitted of manslaughter charges by a jury in the Supreme Court. The four men, three women jury deliberated for a little over three hours, and came up seven to two for acquittal. Gardiner was accused of the shooting death of Gregory Batty […]
In Magistrate Court today, the attorney for four police officers accused of shaking down a Belize City shopkeeper said the men acted “reasonably and intelligently.” Attorney Simeon Sampson made a no case submission today, claiming that the policemen had reason to believe Percy Chow was selling illegal lottery and were investigating the claim when they […]
A woman who was held up in her own home and chopped with a machete dropped all charges against the four accused today in the Magistrate Court. Catherine Blease, with the assistance of the Ombudsman’s Office, withdrew the charges of aggravated burglary, aggravated assault, and wounding against Brenda Usher, Darwin Usher, Patty Usher, and Levan […]
An unlicensed thirty-eight revolver and ammunition has landed a young Belizean in Hattieville prison. Twenty-two year old Joel Belizaire pleaded guilty today in Magistrate’s Court to the two firearm charges and was fined ten thousand dollars for the gun and another ten grand for the ammo. Chief Magistrate Herbert Lord demanded that five thousand be […]
It was big news back in October of 2004. That is a shootout near Queen Square Anglican School that had the community worried about innocent children being caught in the crossfire. Today that story has resurfaced as Lincoln Robinson, the man charged with aggravated assault and threat of death against a police officer, has failed […]
A police officer convicted of rape last week was sentenced to eight years in prison today in the Supreme Court. Before the sentencing, Crispin Jeffries Jr. asked Justice Adolph Lucas to be as lenient as possible and stated that when he left home on the night of March thirteenth, 2004, he did not have any […]
Also in the Supreme Court, the verdict was returned in the case of a sixteen year old girl accused of chopping off the finger of a woman with a machete. After three hours of deliberation, which ended at seven-thirty last night, the jury found the teen, who was fourteen at the time of the incident, […]
A career chain snatcher has been given six years in prison for yet another incident involving a gold chain. Rudolph “Tuba” Smith of Plues Street was found guilty of robbery after his victim, Lorraine Herrera, testified that she was walking on Water Lane in Belize City on November fifteenth, 2004, when Tuba accosted her, held […]
Four men charged with burglary in connection with the April twentieth looting spree in downtown Belize City walked out of Magistrate’s Court free men Tuesday morning. Brent Gibson, Joel Bishop Jr., Charles Ramsey and Cordell Banks were apprehended by police inside Gaylord’s Store on King Street, but in court the store’s owner, Preeti Sadarangani offered […]
He was convicted of carnal knowledge in February in the court of Justice Simeon Sampson and sentenced to twelve years in prison. But this week the Court of Appeal quashed that conviction and ordered a retrial for Dario Cal. The Appellate Court agreed with Cal’s attorney, Merlene Moody, that Sampson had usurped the jury’s function […]
Hassan El-Sayed, the man charged in the passport scandal and wanted for questioning in the B.T.L. money-changing affair, remains a fugitive from justice. This morning Justice Adolph Lucas declared his two hundred thousand dollar bond forfeited, while at the same time postponing his decision on the forfeiture of a surety for the same amount posted […]
In related news, the Belize Government has won a minor victory in its continuing legal battle with Jeffrey Prosser in the U.S. courts. It seems that in a preliminary attempt at mediation in connection with Prosser’s appeal of the ruling against him in Federal District Court, his attorneys were angry that only G.O.B.’s lawyers showed […]
An inmate at the Hattieville prison has dropped his case against an accused arsonist saying jail is no place for a young man. On Wednesday Justo Swaso told Justice Troadio Gonzalez he wanted to give twenty year old Vicente Reina a break since he has seen first hand what prison is like. The judge then […]
It will likely be remembered as one of those surreal and perhaps comic footnotes in Belize’s political history… that is the dramatic arrest of Collet representative Patrick Faber in Belmopan. Today his legal problems were resolved, but let’s first return to the scene that unfolded that fateful day in April during a public forum organised […]
In the Supreme Court on Tuesday a charge of murder was dismissed against a Belize City man after the prosecution entered a motion of nolle prosequi. Court reports are that the case against twenty-two year old Jeffrey Flowers fell apart when the main witness in the case, Francis Petillo–himself in handcuffs for other offences–told the […]
The verdict is in and Crispin Jeffries Junior has been found guilty of rape. The thirty year old police officer, son of Assistant Commissioner Crispin Jeffries Senior, was unanimously convicted this afternoon by a jury of seven men and two women in the courtroom of Justice Adolph Lucas. Testimony during the trial indicated that following […]
