A resident of Bullet Tree Falls, Cayo District, alleged to have caused the death of his uncle on September, 23, 2006, was found guilty of manslaughter by a jury of eight men and four women.
Kenneth Garcia, 32, of Bullet Tree Falls was represented in the Supreme Courtroom of Justice John “Troadio” Gonzalez by attorneys Leo Bradley, Jr., and Richard “Dickie” Bradley.
Garcia did not testify during the trial proceedings, but his caution statement, which was made at the Crimes Investigation Branch in San Ignacio, Cayo, on September, 24, 2006, at 4:40 p.m., was tendered into evidence by Crown Counsel for the prosecution, Yohhahnseh Cave.
The prosecution called six witnesses, including a justice of the peace and the doctor who performed the post-mortem, but relied heavily on Garcia’s caution statement as its main incriminating evidence.
Garcia’s two attorneys did not argue the validity or existence of the statement, but rested their case on their client’s plea of self-defense.
Garcia’s caution statement stated: “… I spoke to my uncle nice and clear, why does he doesn’t like me, and then he started to stone me with stones, he hit me on my right leg and then hit me on my waist with another stone. I pick up a piece of pipe and I wapped him on his head. That’s it, only self-defense.”
Police say that on September, 23, 2006, Garcia, who was living in the same house as his uncle, Amilcar Garcia, 63, in Bullet Tree Falls, went home between 8:00 and 9:00 p.m., allegedly intoxicated, and in a heated argument with his elderly uncle, picked up a blunt object and hit Amilcar on the head.
Amilcar was found lying on the ground outside the family home by his friend, Anthony Manzanero, on the same day.
Manzanero noticed that at the time when he picked up Amilcar from the ground that there was blood coming from his head. He then rushed Amilcar to the San Ignacio Hospital.
Amilcar was transferred to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, but succumbed to the head injury the next day on Saturday, September, 24.
Expert witness Dr. Mario Estradabran further explained during his testimony that the post-mortem that he performed on the deceased indicated that a blunt object was used, with mild to strong force, to hit his head region.
Amilcar’s autopsy was conducted on September, 25, 2006. Estradabran stated the cause of death was “massive head bleeding.”
The jurors retired to the deliberation room at 12:00 p.m., today and signaled to the court personnel, a little over four hours after, that they had reached a decision, at 4:03 p.m. The verdict was unanimous and it was not for the murder charge which was anticipated by the prosecution: the jurors found him guilty of manslaughter.
Mitigation pleas will be presented by the defense attorneys to the court on Friday, June 18, 2010, after which Justice Gonzalez will render his sentence.