BELIZE CITY–After spending the last five days under police guard at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH) because of a bullet injury he suffered at the hands of Belize City police, the man who police alleged fired at another man at close range on North Front Street was remanded to prison after he was arraigned on attempted murder and firearm charges late this morning.
Carl Lino, 22, was escorted by police in handcuffs and limped his way into the courtroom of Chief Magistrate Ann Marie Smith, who arraigned him on three indictable offences and two firearm-related charges.
Around 10:00 a.m., when Lino’s name was first called, only his court book was present; he was a no-show. The reason is that police had to take him back to the hospital so that he could get fresh dressing for the gunshot injury.
By 11:15 a.m., however, Lino was brought to court and the dressing on his left big toe was evident. He was unable to stand due to his injury, so the Chief Magistrate allowed him to sit while she read the charges to him.
He was not required to enter a plea for the charge of the attempted murder of Andrew Tate, 28, which occurred shortly after 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 12, on North Front Street.
In addition, Lino was charged with one count of use of deadly means of harm upon Tate and one count of dangerous harm.
Police also charged Lino with one count each of kept unlicensed firearm and unlicensed ammunition for a .38 chrome and black handgun and (1) .38 round.
He was allowed to enter a plea on the two firearm charges, because those will be heard summarily.
He pleaded not guilty to the firearm charges.
Due to the nature of the charges, bail cannot be granted at the Magistrate’s Court, so Lino was remanded to the Belize Central Prison until his next court date on January 20, 2015.
In the early afternoon of last Wednesday, gunshots rang out on North Front Street. Quick police response led to the arrest of Lino, who had allegedly shot Andrew Tate somewhere near the back of his head.
Tate was observed by passersby holding one of his ears as he ran in the direction of the Belize City Swing Bridge in an effort to escape his assailant.
Police opened fire on Lino, who had run in the opposite direction. He was hit in an alleyway off North Front Street in the vicinity of Majestic Alley.
Lino was allegedly caught red-handed with the firearm for which he has been charged. The weapon was loaded with one round.