^{_{Photo: (l-r) Irene Budd, Ormencia Pou-Swift and Aaron Fuentes}}

BELIZE CITY, Wed. Apr. 23, 2024

A jury of 9 persons — 7 women and 2 men—who initially stepped into the deliberating room at 11:30 this morning to decide the fate of a family of 3, concluded that they were all guilty of the charge of grievous harm.

In the case of Ormencia Pou, the first defendant, and her mother, Irene Budd, the second defendant, the verdict was unanimous, as all 9 jurors found them guilty; while their brother, Aaron Fuentes, was found guilty but at a ratio of 8:1, as one juror thought he was not guilty while the other 8 jurors found him guilty of the crime

Justice Pilgrim deemed the offense for which they were charged to be one of a very serious nature, and so he remanded the trio to the Belize Central Prison until May 31, 2024, when mitigation pleas will be heard on their behalf.

The trial against the Sandhill family, 68-year-old Irene Budd, charged jointly along with her daughter, 45-year-old Ormencia Pou-Swift, and Budd’s son, Aaron Fuentes, 34, started before Justice Nigel Pilgrim in the High Court two weeks ago.

Initially, the trio had been charged with the attempted murder of Gilbert Blair, a man who was once a friend of the family and a close friend of one of Budd’s other sons; but on indictment, the trio were read a charge of grievous harm, for which they pleaded not guilty.

The Crown’s allegations against them were that on September 4, 2011, almost 13 years ago, Aaron Fuentes had a disagreement with Blair at around 8:30 p.m. whilst at A&C Restaurant in Sandhill. The two had an argument that led to a violent confrontation outside the restaurant, and at some point Fuentes allegedly left the area and returned with a machete and chopped Blair on his hand, severing his pinky finger.

The Crown further alleged that during the fight, Fuentes was joined by his mother and sister, who also administered a beating on Blair.

It was alleged by the Crown that after Fuentes chopped Blair on the hand, Fuentes’ mother, Irene Budd, who was armed with an iron bar, hit Blair several times on the body, while her daughter, Ormencia Pou hit him in his mouth, which caused two of his teeth to fall out.

Most disturbingly, the Crown asserted that Pou used force to rip out one of Blair’s eyes with her fingers.

From the witness stand, Blair, who lost his left eye, identified his attackers as the mother, son and daughter.

Blair, from the witness stand, said he went to A&C Restaurant to buy food, and whilst waiting for his food, he drank some beers with friends who were there.

At that point, he said, he saw Aaron Fuentes, someone whom he knew well, and that’s when he recalled a recent contention between himself and Aaron’s family; and so, to avoid any conflict, Blair said he moved from where he was and went to sit in another seat in the restaurant.

Shortly after, he noticed that Aaron Fuentes seemed to have left the restaurant, and that’s when Blair said he left the restaurant and went outside.

But he said that Aaron returned with a machete, which he aimed at Blair, and to avoid being chopped in the face, he (Blair) raised his right hand, which was wounded by the machete.

According to Blair, he then picked up a bottle, and after initially lunging at Fuentes, he threw the bottle at him, which caused Fuentes to fall down.

Fuentes, after getting back up, tried to pick up the machete, but another person, known only by the name “TD”, took hold of the machete.

Fuentes began to run, said Blair, to get away, but at that point Blair saw Fuentes’ mother, Irene, approaching him with an iron bar, and his sister, Ormencia Pou, with a hammer.

Blair said that as he walked past Fuentes, Fuentes grabbed him from behind, and Pou hit him in the head with the hammer and Irene Budd hit him in his back.

He said that Aaron Fuentes then joined in the attack.

During the attack, he recalled seeing Pou hitting him in his mouth, then she took her fingers and ripped out his left eye.

Blair told the court that when Pou ripped out his eye, she said, “This is because you said you would burn down my house.”

Blair also told the court that Irene Budd also tried to rip out his other eye, but was unsuccessful. Blair said he managed to escape and made his way to the hospital.

According to the Crown’s evidence, Blair is left without vision in his left eye.

Doctor Valdez testified that Blair’s eye was out of its socket when he examined him. He was also seen with injuries to his finger and injury to his buttocks.

The doctor also said that the persons who caused Blair’s injuries had to have been very close to him, and force had to have been used to cause such injuries to his eye.

During the trial, Pou was the only defendant who testified under oath from the witness stand, while her mother and brother gave dock statements.

Pou told the court that she was not at the scene when the attack occurred, but went there after it had happened, after she got a call notifying her of a fight happening in Sandhill.

She said that when she received the call she was at her house getting her daughter’s hair ready for school the next day.

Her mother, Irene Budd, from the dock also claimed that she was at home when the incident occurred.

The trial against the trio began early in April before Justice Nigel Pilgrim and a jury of 9 persons. The Crown was represented by Crown Counsel, Sheneiza Smith of the Director of Public Prosecution’s (DPP) office.

In addressing the jurors, Darrell Bradley, the attorney for Fuentes, told the jurors that Blair’s story is not to be believed, and that Blair lied about what happened.

Bradley told the jurors that the plucking of a person’s eye could only have taken place through extreme force and proximity—more so than was possible during his interaction with Pou. He therefore insisted that the loss of Blair’s eye, could not have occurred in the manner he described.

Notably, after the jurors first stepped into the deliberating room at 11:30 a.m., they came out at 12:00 noon, half an hour later, to ask a few questions that were answered by the judge, then at 12:16 p.m. they stepped back into the deliberating room.

It was not until after 4:00 p.m. that the jurors stepped out once more, and while their decision against Fuentes was not unanimous as it was for his mother and sister, the verdict could be accepted, since it was at a ratio of 8/1, with the majority finding him guilty.

Fuentes, as previously mentioned, was represented by attorney Darrell Bradley, while Pou and Budd were represented by attorney Ellis Arnold; and the Crown was represented by Senior Counsel from the DPP’s office, Sheneiza Smith.

The Pou family had filed a civil case for Constitutional rights violation in the High Court, which they had won. The case has therefore been before the court for more than a decade.