A Belize City man who was supposed to be the best man at his brother’s wedding will not be attending, unless he can get special permission from the authorities at the Belize Central Prison, where he was remanded today on a marijuana possession charge.

Michael Frazer, 30, a fisherman and resident of #8346 West Canal, was remanded to prison until his next court appearance date on April 9.

Frazer appeared before Magistrate Hettie Mae Stewart to answer to a charge of possession of 9 grams of marijuana that was allegedly found in his possession on Tuesday, March 25.

Frazer pleaded not guilty to the charge, but when the question of bail came up, the arraignment took an unexpected turn when the court prosecutor objected to bail on the ground that the accused man had just been before the court last month for the same offense.

According to court records, Frazer was arrested and charged for marijuana possession in January and was released on bail, but he was arrested again in February on another marijuana possession charge.

The court prosecutor submitted that in light of Frazer’s three most recent charges for the same offense, he should be denied bail, because it is likely that he will commit the same offense if he is not remanded to prison, and besides, he already has 10 previous convictions for drug-related offenses.

In his own mitigation plea, Frazer told the court that if he were given another chance, he would not be back before the court again. He said that his brother is getting married on Saturday, March 29, and that he is the best man and does not want to disappoint his brother.

But at the end of his mitigation plea, the Magistrate decided to uphold the prosecutor’s objection and remanded Frazer to prison.

Magistrate Stewart explained to Frazer that he can apply to the Supreme Court for bail, but he must get an attorney to do so for him.

But under the rules for applying for Supreme Court bail, the DPP’s office requires a 14-day notice.