In other news from the Supreme Court, the trial of an accused arsonist was interrupted when a psychiatrist testified that the defendant was incompetent to face the charges. Dr. Roy Lopez of the Ministry of Health told the court that Mark Garnett does not have the intellect to follow the evidence at his trial and […]
In other court news, Jason “Soup” Williams is a free man as the prosecution has decided not to go forward with the case against him. Williams was charged with the April 2002 murder of Mark “Ratta” Henry in Belize City. Williams had originally been charged with manslaughter, but in June of 2004 the charge was […]
An investigation into the death of a Cuban doctor in 2003 has concluded. The coroner’s inquest, which consisted of four jurors, found that no one is criminally responsible for the accident which claimed the life of Dr. Leidys Garcia-Lopez on February nineteenth of that year. Dr. Garcia-Lopez died when the vehicle she was riding in […]
In the Supreme Court today, both the prosecution and defence closed their cases in the alleged rape of an eighteen-year-old girl by Crispin Jeffries Junior. All that is left now is for the prosecution, defence, and presiding judge Adolph Lucas, to make their final presentations and then hand over the case to the jury for […]
Hassan El-Sayed. He is a man with many questions to answer, first as one of those on trial in connection with the forgery of illegally sold passports, and more recently as the money broker who was given one-point-four million dollars of B.T.L. funds to change into U.S. and has yet to produce the cash. El-Sayed […]
The Supreme Court session that begins on Monday will be its busiest in memory. So far the court has already listed sixty criminal matters for trial in the October sitting and is still accepting cases. Among the numerous murders, armed robberies, sexual assaults and other crimes, two stand out. One is the trial of Jermaine […]
Joan Bennett, the woman on trial for fatally stabbing her common-law husband, is tonight a free woman. The fifty-two year sanitation worker, who had been charged with manslaughter, appeared this afternoon in Magistrate’s Court where prosecutor Cheryl-Lynn Branker-Tait read a memo from the Director of Public Prosecutions requesting that the case be withdrawn. The charges […]
A man accused of setting fire to his brother-in-law’s van has been freed for a second time. Emerson Elijio walked out of the Supreme Court last night after a hung jury could not reach a verdict. The trial featured two witnesses: the owner of the van, Ricardo Palma and Elijio’s former girlfriend, Martha Odette Palma. […]
We don’t know how they’ll be celebrating Independence Eve, but Andrew “Papa” Brown and his brother Floyd walked down the steps of the Belize City Magistrate’s Court as free men this morning after Chief Magistrate Herbert Lord dismissed the extradition action against them. In handing down his decision, Lord maintained that a prima facie case […]
Frustration and annoyance ruled the Chief Magistrate’s courtroom this afternoon as the absence of Solicitor General Elson Kaseke forced yet another delay in extradition proceedings against Andrew “Papa” Brown. According to Chief Magistrate Herbert Lord, in his thirty years on the bench, this is the first case that has created “so many problems, so many […]
The trial of Andrew “Papa” Brown continued today, but the venue shifted from the Magistrate to the Supreme Court. Solicitor General Elson Kaseke had asked the Chief Justice to rule on Chief Magistrate Herbert Lord’s exclusion of certain evidence presented by a United States D.E.A. A move that Kaseke claims violated the “constitutional rights” of […]
In another case before the Supreme Court, the lawyer for a man accused of murder has taken the unprecedented step of requesting bail for his client. On Thursday, attorney Marcel Cardona asked that bail be granted to B.D.F. Corporal Remijio Canul charged for the death of Marin Adolphus in 2001. Although the death occurred several […]
The trial of a police officer accused of rape began in the Supreme Court today. A seven man, two woman jury was empanelled and then heard testimony from a nineteen year old woman. She said, under oath, that on the night of March thirteenth, 2004 police officer Crispin Jeffries Jr. had deejayed at a function […]
A construction worker accused of murder was acquitted of all charges against him today in the Supreme Court. According to court reports, on August twenty-seventh 2004, nineteen year old Oligario Assi stabbed Rolando Crawford in the chest with a knife after the two became embroiled in an argument in San Pedro Town. Assi testified before […]
On the civil side of the judicial docket, a dive resort has prevailed in a legal dispute over a sunken boat. In a case decided last month but entered into the record this week, Justice Samuel Awich has ruled that Lighthouse Reef Resort is entitled to collect a four hundred and twenty thousand dollar claim […]
Nine men accused of participating in a riot at the National Assembly in January walked away from the Magistrate Court free men this week. Jaime Antonio, Louis Frutus, George Williams, Gerald Armstrong, Steven Young, Percival Reynolds, Orson Twist, Eric Zetina, and Maximo Pop were released after their attorneys Dean Lindo, Oswald Twist, and Sharon Pitts-Robateau […]
A boat owner accused of not displaying proper registration and other maritime breaches had the charges against him dismissed when the representative from the Port Authority failed to present his own credentials in court. Belize City businessman Arnaldo Pena appeared in court on Thursday where his attorney Ellis Arnold submitted to Magistrate Margaret McKenzie that […]
The Preliminary Inquiry into the murder of Police Constable Nedi Reymundo was held this week and two of the four men accused of the crime have been released. Windell Vernon, Chadrick Debride, Winston Jones, and Glenn Jordan appeared before Magistrate Dorothy Flowers but Jordan and Vernon were given their walking papers after it became apparent […]
In another case of violence against a police officer, a Belize City youth has been convicted of aggravated assault for pulling a gun on P.C. Mark Young. Eighteen year old Lionel Sampson was convicted of aggravated assault and fined one thousand, five hundred dollars by Magistrate Harry Hulett. Three hundred dollars of that amount was […]
A man accused of murder had his charges reduced today in Magistrate’s Court. Roland Smalls, who along with Michael Young is accused of killing taxi driver Rudrick Todd, appeared in the courtroom of Magistrate Richard Swift where he was read the lesser charge of manslaughter. The murder charge still stands against Michael Young. Rudrick Todd […]
In other news from the Magistrate’s court, Press Officer for the K.H.M.H., Gary Ayuso, had charges of discharging a firearm in public withdrawn. Ayuso’s attorney Dickie Bradley pointed out that the prosecution had failed to determine if any of their witnesses actually saw Ayuso shoot a gun outside the Lion King Club on the night […]
A man who has managed to evade conviction for a number of crimes, including three charges of attempted murder, was in court again today, this time facing robbery charges. Twenty-five year old Alex Myers of Baghdad Street appeared before Magistrate Richard Swift where he pleaded not guilty to the charge. Lyndon Garbutt reported to police […]
Another man named Myers fared better in court today when the victim of a burglary opted to withdraw the charges. Dennis Myers had been charged with handling over ten thousand dollars in stolen goods, mainly appliances, in September of 2004. The owner of the property, Sean Feinstein appeared in court this morning, but said he […]
In Magistrate’s Court today, the lack of public bathroom facilities caused a mix-up so severe that a man accused of molesting an eight-year-old girl did not stand trial. The accused, Steven Jorgenson, was released with charges dismissed after the child failed to take the witness stand although a court officer called her name six times. […]
Last week he shot two robbers who tried to hold him up at his shrimp farm, but this week two men he shot last year for trespassing on his property, failed to appear in court. As a result, Charles McIntosh of Marage Road, Ladyville, had the case against him dismissed. McIntosh had been charged with […]
