Category: Trials

The family of slain police officer, Superintendent Henry Jemmott has written to Chief Justice Louise Blenman inquiring about the three hundred hours of community service that Jasmine Hartin was ordered to serve.  On May thirty-first, 2023, Hartin was convicted of manslaughter by negligence, but was not sentenced to prison.  Instead, she was fined seventy-five thousand dollars, ordered to complete three hundred hours of community service, and take part in producing a public service announcement.  While Hartin met the fine and subsequently left the country, Jemmott’s sibling is asking the head of the Senior Courts what happened to the service hours and the PSA.  In the letter to Chief Justice Blenman, Marie Jemmott writes, “The Jemmott family is deeply, deeply hurt and disturbed that the criminal justice system could so fail and dishonor the memory of one of its own law enforcement officers by allowing Ms. Hartin to simply ignore that part of her sentence.  Is this all our brother’s life is worth?”.

Attorney Oscar Selgado returned to the High Court today, where his new attorneys, Arthur Saldivar and Darrell Bradley, were given time to review their client’s reports prior to mitigation. Bradley appeared virtually, while Saldivar had another court matter to attend to and was absent from the proceedings. There are three reports that have been furnished to them for perusal: a prison report, a social inquiry report and a psychological report that have all been prepared by people who have had a chance to analyze the defendant over the past few weeks. Selgado, convicted of abetment to murder upon Marilyn Barnes in 2019, was ordered to return to the court on May thirteenth, when his attorneys will present a mitigation plea on his behalf, asking for the court’s leniency in sentencing him. But Selgado, who has already filed for an appeal of his conviction laid down by Justice Nigel Pilgrim, had other concerns as he appeared in court today. He asked the court’s indulgence to investigate the dosage of insulin that the prison system has been administering to him. He said that he had erroneously informed the prison of the amount of insulin he should be receiving, but that he had corrected the error. Now he says the prison is still administering double the dosage that he should be receiving, and it is now resulting in a dangerously low glucose level for him. He also said that he asked his family to provide a physician for him this morning.  The doctor revealed that upon administering a test, Selgado’s glucose level was far lower than it ought to have been. Justice Pilgrim said he would do what he can to have the matter addressed. But when we checked with the C.E.O. of Kolbe Foundation, Virgilio Murillo following Selgado’s complaint, Murillo responded saying “Doctor Novelo told me he just got that clarification from him on Friday last … his glucose is tested regularly and the doctor has not raised any concerns about him whatsoever,”. Selgado asked permission to meet with his family before he was escorted back to the Belize Central Prison, and he was granted that opportunity. After speaking with him, his attorney, Arthur Saldivar, told reporters about the process ahead for Selgado.

 

Marion Ali

“The judge asked the other attorney for Mr. Selgado about three reports that I think you must review in order to prepare for mitigation: a prison report, a psychological report, and I think a social assessment report. Can, you speak to those? Have you been able to review those reports?”

 

Arthur Saldivar, Attorney for Oscar Selgado

“No, I have not. Those are standard reports whenever a person who has been accused is convicted of an offense. Those reports are normally antecedents to the sentencing process. In so far as they exist, I believe they have been forwarded to the attorney with conduct of the mitigation. A Notice of Appeal has been filed. This has nothing to do with that. This is the natural termination of the trial process. So he was convicted. Now he has to be sentenced for this trial to be fully concluded. And once the trial is fully concluded, then and only then would he be able to go to the court of appeal. But he has made his application already for this matter to be appealed.”

 

A family of three, including a mother, her daughter and son, has been found guilty of attempted murder.  The decision was returned by a jury of seven.  Sixty-eight-year-old Irene Budd, her daughter Ormencia Pou-Swift, and thirty-four year-old Aaron Fuentes appeared before the Justice Nigel Pilgrim two weeks ago.  It is alleged that on September fourth, 2011, Fuentes and Blair got into an altercation in Sand Hill Village.  During the incident, Fuentes left and returned with a machete and chopped Blair on his hand, severing his pinky finger.  It is further alleged that Irene Budd, armed with an iron bar, struck Blair several times to the body, while her daughter ripped out Blair’s left eye with her finger.  The trio has been remanded to the Belize Central Prison until May thirty-first, when mitigation pleas will be heard on their behalf.

Last night, we reported on the nearly fifty thousand dollars from the Belize Government Lottery that was line transferred into the wrong account and held by the account owner. On April twenty-third, thirty-two-year-old Kathleen Belisle was charged for dishonestly retaining a wrongful credit after the money was deposited into her account by the accountant at Nando’s Wholesale LLP, which is one of the Sales Agent for the Belize Government Lottery. However, a representative from the company has come forward with more details on the incident. According to them, the incident was not merely a matter of a mistaken account but is the result of identity fraud. According to Nando’s Wholesale LLP, Belisle’s number was saved under the name of Bi Yun Chen at Lowes Supermarket who is a Sub-Agent for the Belize Government Lottery. They claim that upon texting the number and inquiring about the transfer of funds that typically occurs between the businesses, Belisle pretended to be proprietor of Low’s and informed them that the bank account for the business had changed. Allegedly, after handing over bank information, Belisle made attempts to rectify the error and it was not until Nando’s Wholesale LLP was contacted by a Lowe’s representative that they were made aware of the scam.

Dean Slusher, a convicted murderer, will serve a fixed sentence of thirty years in prison.  That was the decision handed down by Justice Nigel Pilgrim today.  Slusher was found guilty of the murder of land surveyor Philip Chin in 2004, two years after land surveyor Philip Chin was shot and killed during an armed robbery.  That incident took place in February 2002, when Slusher, then nineteen years old, lured Chin using a honey trap to rob him of his firearm.  He was initially sentenced to death, and that judicial punishment was later varied by the Court of Appeal to life in prison with no minimum term.  When Slusher appeared before the High Court today, he was given a permanent sentence of thirty years in prison.  Slusher was represented in court today by attorney Dale Cayetano.

A substantive extradition hearing for Nimrod Tillett, accused of killing a woman in Mexico, will commence on June fifth, before the Chief Magistrate.  Tillett is being represented by British barrister Tim Prudhoe of Turks and Caicos.  The process to extradite Tillett began back in January and he was recently handed over a bundle of evidence containing one hundred and fifty pages as evidence that the government is relying on for his handing over.  In court today, Tillett complained about his present medical condition, informing the Chief Magistrate that he is unable to access medication at the Belize Central Prison.  Tillett’s attorney was instructed to submit to the court in writing all submissions by May fifth, while attorney Stacey Martinez, who represents the Attorney General’s Office, should respond and make submissions in writing by May thirtieth.  Tillett’s attorney spoke with the media following the adjournment.

 

Reporter

“Sir, we were made to understand that your client does have some conditions, could you tell us about that?”

 

Tim Prudhoe, Attorney-at-law

“It’s no secret that he was badly hurt last year and he’s concerned about what will happen if he has to enter the Mexican prison system in that type of condition.  So one of the issues with the extradition is whether or not there would be adequate care if he was to be extradited.”

 

Reporter

“Can you tell us how you got involved in this case?  An agency had reached out to us saying that you have some level of expertise in difficult cases.  How did you get involved.”

 

Tim Prudhoe

“Yeah, I’m an English barrister that’s done similar sorts of work elsewhere in the Caribbean…  I was asked if I would take the case and I said yes and found out the facts.  So it wasn’t very difficult.  It’s obvious to me that there are issues in relation to the extradition that’s being raised in the court and we are due on the fifth of June.”

Reporter

“Sir, based on the level of experience, you come very qualified in dealing with these sorts of matters, can we have your professional opinion on Mr. Tillett’s case?”

 

Tim Prudhoe

“You mean the prospects of him being expedited.”

 

Reporter

“I’m afraid I’m not going to be able to answer that.  Sorry, man.”

Today, a man was handed a life sentence in prison with a fixed term of thirty years for the murder of thirty-nine-year-old Sandra Ruiz. He is thirty-seven-year-old Darrel Grant, who was convicted for the 2008 murder of the Belize City resident and mother of two. Reports are that Ruiz was inside her residence in Kings Park when an adult male forcibly entered her home. He then proceeded to sexually assault Ruiz before bludgeoning her to death with a hammer. At the time of the attack, Ruiz’s two young daughters were at home, a thirteen-year-old and a six-year-old. The older of the two was able to escape the building before she could be harmed, however, the younger girl was found and attacked. Fortunately, she survived but was left in a coma for several days following the incident. In 2010, Grant was found guilty and handed a life sentence, after he was found wearing Ruiz’s necklace a few days after the incident. Today, Grant appeared before the court for resentencing and was again given a life sentence. In an apology from Grant, he said, (quote), I am sorry for what I did, I was young and immature, I am sorry to her family and for the pain to my family. I am sorry for what I did. I know I can’t bring back Miss Sandra’s life, (end quote). However, Justice Nigel Pilgrim noted that as Grant was twenty-two-years-old at the time of the murder, he was at a mature enough age to be held responsible for his actions. Pilgrim also considered the impact statement from Ruiz’s family members in mitigation. Ruiz’s eldest daughter said that following the death of her mother, she had to abandon her life in Belize and live with her father in another country in fear of her life. While Ruiz’s brother stated that no time in prison would ever bring back his sister.

 

Back in May 2023, Mario Bustillos, an exhibit keeper for the Belize Police Department, was slapped with ten charges of negligent harm after Belize City primary school children and an adult consumed cannabis-infused candies. Bustillos was accused of exceeding his authority by improperly disposing of the weed candies, which were labelled as found property. Bustillos did not enter a plea at that time, as the matter is being addressed through an indictment. However, News Five learned today that those ten charges were withdrawn in October 2023, six months after the incident. He now faces a new charge of willful suppression. His attorney, Nazira Myles Espat, told the court today that the compact disc provided by the prosecution is not functioning. The preliminary inquiry has been adjourned to May third, pending resolution of these technical difficulties. Bustillos remains on interdiction.