Last Thursday, September 3, the Supreme Court of Justice Adolph Lucas resumed its summer break and the first case on the calendar was the trial of Lewis Leiva, 36, who was indicted on a single count of rape for an incident that occurred at his place of business, the Red Hut Inn, in 2007. A nine member jury made up of five women and four men are hearing the evidence in the trial.
The victim, a 20-year-old American woman, who was 18 at the time, flew in from the United States the day before the trial to give evidence.
According to court information, two sisters were on a hiking swing through Central America, as part of a graduation gift to the younger sister who had recently graduated from high school in their home state of Richmond, Virginia. They came over to Belize by bus, after spending time in Guatemala.
The older sister, who also testified in the trial, had made the accommodation arrangements for them to stay at the Red Hut Inn, located in the Bella Vista area of Belize City.
The younger sister, the victim, testified that on the night of July 11, 2007, Leiva had a party at the Red Hut Inn. After they were served dinner, alcoholic drinks began to flow. She testified that she drank a lot of wine during the night of partying.
Sometime when the party was in full swing, Lewis took her into a separate room to show her his musical system (Lewis is a deejay). When they were alone in the room, he attempted to put his hand in her “nether region” [vagina] but she objected, telling him that she “was drunk and that he was married.”
At some point she felt as if she was going to pass out and decided to head for her room, which she was sharing with her sister.
After she had called off the party she fell in bed with her clothing on and began drifting in and out of consciousness because of the amount of drinks that she had.
At some point, her sister entered the room. She told the court that she recognized that it was her sister because of her curly hair.
Under cross-examination from Leiva’s attorney, David Morales, she told the court that she did not remember exactly how he had tried to access her “nether region” but she “just remember him being there.” She said that she was wearing a purple tank-top blouse and a jeans pants-skirt.
When Morales suggested to her that she never told anyone about the attempted fondling incident, the victim said that she had told her sister.
She testified that it was very hard for her to go back and relive the incident. In tears on the witness stand, the witness said that she was in and out of consciousness.
“I was half asleep when this (the rape) was going on. I could feel things happening, but I was not able to control them,” she testified under cross-examination.
“I felt him remove the top sheet from off me and I felt him undoing my skirt. I felt him on top of me. After that he inserted his penis inside me and had sex with me. I was half conscious. He took what felt like thirty seconds.”
She continued: “And I could recall that last thing he said before he left the room – ‘let me go before I get caught,’ as he left the room in a hurry.”
The older sister was the one who let Leiva into the room when he came knocking sometime after midnight, when both young women were already in bed.
In her testimony, the older sister told the court that she heard a knock on the door and when she got up and put on the lights to see who it was, Leiva stood there. He told her that he wanted to tell her sister good night. She said that she thought nothing of it, and she let him into the room.
As Leiva got into the room, the older sister said that she went back to her bed, which was about five feet away from her sister’s bed; she took a pillow and put it over her head, rolled over and faced the wall.
But after a few seconds, when she turned around, she said: “I saw Lewis on top of my sister. And neither of them was wearing anything from the waist down. My sister was just lying there on her back, her thighs were spread and he was just between them moving. When I saw that, I flipped and rolled over, then I realized that something was really not right. I heard the door close and I went over to my sister. She was just lying there dazed. I tried to get her attention, but she was not snapping out of it. I finally got her somewhat responsive. I did not know how to ask her what happened, but I finally asked her if that was consensual. When she snapped out of the daze, she started crying hysterically, she was just shaking.”
The older sister testified that they went to the part of the compound where Lewis was staying and woke up his wife and told her what had just happened.
Both wife and husband came over to where the two girls were staying sometime after they had paid a visit to the wife.
By daylight they had packed all their things and were waiting downstairs for the police, who came shortly after 6:30 a.m. Shortly after the police arrived, some people from the United States Embassy in Belize also showed up at the Red Hut Inn.
In her testimony, the victim told the court that Lewis and his wife had offered to pay for her to get medical attention and psychiatric treatment. “They also offered to take us to the airport,” she told the court.
The victim also testified that Leiva told her that he was a DJ and he did not want his reputation ruined.
Under cross-examination, Morales told the victim that it was not true that Lewis Leiva and his wife had apologized to her for what happened. In a loud voice, the victim said, “Yes, he did.”
Also under cross-examination, Morales asked the victim if at anytime she had told Leiva to stop; she replied no. The attorney then asked her if at anytime she had shouted out for help; she replied no.
She also admitted that she did not call the police and that no one had called the police.
The Crown’s case is being presented by Crown Counsel Trienia Young. The case continues tomorrow, Tuesday, when the formal witnesses – the police – will take the stand.