_{Photo: William Danny Mason}

by Roy Davis (freelance writer)

BELIZE CITY, Mon. Mar. 25, 2024

Belize Court of Appeal has reserved its decision for William Danny Mason and 4 others who were convicted of the 2016 murder of Pastor Llewellyn Lucas and were sentenced to life imprisonment and eligibility for parole after 35 years, less the time they spent on remand.

The others include Ernest Castillo, Ashton Vanegas, Keiron Fernandez and Terrence Fernandez.

Their appeals were on 11 grounds.

Chief among them was the ground that the learned trial judge had erred when she admitted into evidence the DVR surveillance recording. The basis for the argument was that the Crown did not authenticate the recording. But the position of the Crown was that the recording was duly authenticated.

Another ground was that the trial judge failed to caution herself before acting on an identification evidence.

Mason and the others were tried on March 12, 2019, before Justice Antoinette Moore. They were found guilty on June 30, 2020. The respondent was represented by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Cheryl Lynn Vidal.