Photo: Epifania Caliz
by Charles Gladden
BELIZE CITY, Fri. Nov. 3, 2023
Epifania Caliz, 35, of Belmopan, the wife of remanded former police officer, Elmer Nah (who is facing a triple murder charge), appeared on Friday, November 3, in the Magistrate Court in Belize City, where she was charged for the offense of common assault against well-known court reporter, Anita Nembhard. She pleaded not guilty to the offense.
In court today, Caliz arrived late and claimed that she had car troubles. When the magistrate questioned her, she said that she had attempted to notify the prosecutor but did not get a response.
On Monday, October 16, Nembhard was standing outside of the courtroom, while Caliz, Nah and her brother were facing ammunition charges inside. When the trial had concluded with the withdrawal of the charges, Caliz and her brother exited the building, and Nembhard began recording video footage of them as part of her coverage of the case. When the Caliz siblings drew near to Nembhard, however, Epifania removed her face mask and coughed in the face of Nembhard.
Nembhard subsequently decided to press charges, although Caliz’s attorney, Richard “Dickie” Bradley, publicly conveyed what he claimed was Caliz’s apology, which was not accepted by Nembhard, who said it was “not a genuine apology”.
When speaking to reporters this morning, Nembhard was informed that Caliz had pleaded not guilty and was offered bail, and she stated in response, “I don’t expect [anything] else! I believe she has an attorney and wants to take it to the fullest. I’ve [stood] my grounds … An apology from Epifania Caliz won’t cut it! I have been attacked and victimized for years. 21 years I have been in journalism and I thought I had seen it all, but what happened to me on the 16 of October, I don’t want to think about worse to come.”
“… If I had reacted, or how everybody, generally in society, people think that you should react, then I would have made again my right wrong. I don’t have that kind of heart. Even when I was, when wrong was done to me, I knew the right thing was to do. If Epifania Caliz had thought first of her children and her family, she wouldn’t have acted ugly like that towards me, because I have been covering that story for months, and we have to think before we act. I could have acted the way people thought I should have acted, but that done on me. I want to give her the benefit of the doubt. She could have done better. She could have been an adult, and now she wants me to be an adult even after she did wrong to me … I have never once said a word to Epifania Caliz throughout the entire time I’ve been covering that story. So, for her to behave like that, there’s no justification. None,” she added.
Nembhard said that she isn’t afraid of Epifania Caliz, despite the belief among many members of the public that she is affiliated with “dirty cops”.
“I have always [had] faith, and I believe God got my back out here, has always [had] my back, even with the ugly stuff that has happened to me; and I will continue to believe that he has continued to have my back as I do my job,” she said.
Caliz pleaded not guilty to the offense despite being captured on video footage committing the act, and was granted bail of $800 and one surety. She must return to court on January 3, 2024.