It goes without saying that today’s news was not particularly popular with the Opposition. U.D.P. Leader Dean Barrow the same man who announced the appointment in his last days as Attorney General, this afternoon told the press that today’s developments represented nothing less than the subversion of the constitution and rule of law in Belize. […]
While Attorney General Bradley expressed his disapproval over any indignity Mr. Sosa may have suffered, he placed blame for the situation squarely on the shoulder of Dean Barrow. Dickie Bradley, Attorney General “Of course not and I hope that did not happen, that nobody would want to bar the Chief Justice from going to his […]
In the Supreme Court today all charges were withdrawn against a prison officer accused of helping nine prisoners escape from Hattieville in 1997. It was alleged that Thomas Gilharry had issued a hacksaw blade to the prisoners which helped them free themselves. Sampson says today in Supreme Court Judge Troadio Gonzalez made it clear that […]
A fifteen year old girl has been sentenced to eight years in prison after being found guilty of manslaughter. Shernell Morris was fourteen when she stabbed sixteen year old Ashante Joseph to death in a fight over a magazine in August of 1997. Judge Troadio Gonzalez is reported to have told the court this morning […]
The Supreme Court is in session and will deal with eleven criminal cases ranging from murder to forgery. But while it is hoped justice will move swiftly for these cases, there are over two hundred cases backlogged for Belize City Magistrate and Supreme Courts and an untold number in the rest of the country. Additional […]
Prior to 1974, the openings of the Supreme Court criminal session had very little fanfare, but over the past twenty-five years the ceremony has become more and more elaborate. Today, those who attended were treated to all the pomp and circumstance they have grown accustomed to. Inspecting the Guard of Honour, for the first time […]
The government is trying to sue one of Belize’s former diplomats for allegedly misappropriating funds allocated to our High Commission in the United Kingdom. Diana Locke of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed today that the government is attempting to recover one hundred and forty thousand dollars from former High Commissioner Ursula Barrow. Although Locke […]
It’s a court of law frequented by many Belizeans but its cases rarely make it onto the evening news. No longer. A family court proceeding that was today resolved in magistrate’s court has ramifications for the law, politics, and the media. In the ruling U.D.P. Senator, newspaper editor and talk show host Audrey Matura Tillett […]
Belizean businessman Rhett Fuller’s family and attorneys were hoping he would have been out on bail for Christmas, but that is not to be. Today in the Supreme Court Justice George Meerabux denied the application for bail. The defense says it prefers not to comment on the ruling at this time. Fuller’s extradition hearing has […]
The extradition hearing for the owner of Triton Advertising Rhett Fuller continued today in the Magistrate’s Court. The United States is seeking to bring Fuller back to the U.S. in connection with the murder of Larry Miller in Florida in 1989. Today defense attorney Kirk Anderson continued where he left off yesterday making further submissions […]
The extradition hearing for a Belizean businessman Rhett Fuller wanted by the United States in connection with a Florida murder in 1989 began today in the Magistrate’s Court. This morning defense attorney Eamon Courtenay argued that the affidavit submitted by the U.S. was not authenticated because it did not bear the seal of a witness […]
A relaxed and clean shaven Rhett Fuller appeared in Magistrate’s Court today to face an extradition hearing. He is wanted by the United States government for allegedly being involved in a murder that took place in Miami almost nine years ago. Fuller, who is being defended by attorneys Eamon Courtenay and Kirk Anderson, has been […]
It was a bloody murder done execution style in broad daylight at a gas station in downtown Belize City, just a few yards away from a primary school packed with children. Today, one year after the shooting death of Urbano Allen the trigger man is finally brought to justice. A somewhat haggard looking Juan Ramirez […]
The Belize Times newspaper and its fiery editor, Amalia Mai, are no strangers to lawsuits, but this time around the Supreme Court complaint is no mere libel case filed by the P.U.P.’s political opponents; it is an allegation of recklessness brought by the judicial system itself. The man behind the move is Director of Public […]
While the D.P.P. was venting his anger at the Belize Times, the BAR Association was lending credibility to the newspaper’s charges of questionable behavior by the government. In a meeting Thursday night the lawyers’ organization passed a resolution stating that the three judicial appointments appeared to have been made without regard to constitutional procedures, specifically […]
Two years after they were charged with stealing and conspiracy to steal close to seventy thousand dollars from the Water and Sewerage Authority, James Castillo, Paul Elliot, Clayton Arzu and Anette Gongora, all former employees of WASA, were today acquitted of all charges by Chief Magistrate, Herbert Lord. According to Lutchman Sooknandan, one of the […]
In other court news Justice George Meerabux has resigned from his recently awarded seat on the Belize Court of Appeal. Meerabux had been appointed on August twenty sixth as kind of an alternate judge of the court at the same time that Justice George Singh was appointed to the substantive post. The reason cited for […]
Last week at his press conference Attorney General Dean Barrow announced some late term judicial appointments… and today so said, so done. In a ceremony in Belmopan Justice Manuel Sosa was sworn in as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court by Governor General Sir Colville Young. Sosa succeeds former Chief Justice George Singh who was […]
The ongoing saga of Vernon Harrison Courtenay versus the Social Security Board has hit another bump in its long and winding road. On Wednesday, an application by the Courtenay defense team to stay the execution of the judgement handed down on July thirty first was denied by resident Appeals Court judge Horace Young. Young said […]
While the assault on Ralph Fonseca was Dean Barrow’s number one task at this morning’s press conference, his other bit of news was of far greater importance. On the eve of elections it seems that Belize will be getting a new Chief Justice. Patrick Jones reports on the elevation of Manuel Sosa and other moves. […]
With all the political commotion in the Chief Magistrate’s courtroom we almost missed a ruling that would otherwise be front-page news. We have not seen the official report but it appears that the high profile case against a number of Taiwanese defendants accused of forging immigration documents has been dismissed. The reason appears to be […]
In these strange pressure filled times it is increasingly difficult to tell where politics ends and the law begins. Today we are once again reminded of that tendency as another decision with strong political implications has been rendered in the civil suit of the Social Security Board versus V.H. Courtenay. Viewers will recall that last […]
It was their first major stumble in a campaign that was otherwise going strong, and today in the court of Justice George Meerabux the People’s United Party had to pay the price – both in cash and loss of face. In the biggest verdict ever rendered in a Belizean libel case San Ignacio Town Councilor […]
In a decision that may have far reaching effects on the relationship between government and its employees, the Supreme Court has ordered authorities to reinstate a fired public officer and pay him over three years of back salary. In 1994 Jason Guerrero was terminated from his job as music coordinator with the Belize Arts Council, […]
Along with the pitched battle going on in the political arena Said Musa and the P.U.P. have their hands full in another venue: the Supreme Court. There are several dozen libel suits against the party newspaper, The Belize Times, which may come up over the next few months and today the court of Justice Nathan […]
