Photo: Michelle Trapp, vice president ADA
by Marco Lopez
BELIZE CITY, Thurs. May 4, 2023
Bail is a right, not a privilege, in Belize’s legal system, the Association of Defense Attorneys (ADA) reminded members of the judiciary in a strongly worded press release issued on Tuesday. Two instances of what the ADA calls “disturbing” were brought to light in the release, which fingered the new Chief Magistrate, Jayani Wegodapola, and a Justice of the High Court as the judicial officers whose decisions and comments, respectively, have been condemned by members of the association.
On May 2, Tehje Vaughn, who reportedly caused the death of a friend, Charles Canton, when a bullet was accidentally released by his gun while it was in her hands, was denied bail after spending an extended weekend in a police holding cell waiting to be read a charge of Manslaughter by Negligence. She was remanded to the Belize Central Prison until July 3 after being denied bail in the courtroom of the new Chief Magistrate. The prosecutor, during his submission, asked the court to send a stern message to the public by denying bail. He argued that Vaughn’s case should be handled using precedent that was set by the case of Jasmine Hartin, which involved a charge of manslaughter in connection with a similar shooting scenario (an accidental firing of a gun while in the hands of a friend of the victim), and which led to the remanding of Hartin to prison until she received bail through the High Court.
According to the release from the ADA, the Chief Magistrate made a verbal declaration that she made the decision to deny bail after only hearing the prosecution’s submission.
The release states that this “is a fundamental breach of a defendant’s right to a fair trial.” It adds that only after the attorney representing the accused, Leeroy Banner, raised the issue was his submission heard.
“We note that hearing Defense counsel’s submission after pronouncing ‘bail denied’ and only at the behest of defense counsel asking the Court if he will not be heard, make his subsequent submission, supporting why his client to be admitted bail, otiose,” the release states. The decision was already made, according to them.
The ADA highlights former Chief Justice George Bawa Singh’s ruling in the 1993 case of Carlos Caveza et al., where he noted that the bench’s discretion to granting bail should be exercised “judiciously and not capriciously or according to the whims and fancies, likes or dislikes of the person presiding.”
Citing the case of Noordally v AG [1986] MR 204, they pointed out that bail must not be denied as a means of punishment either, adding that the ultimate question should be whether the defendant will appear for her trial.
In reference to the second incident, the ADA said that they received reports of one High Court judge who told an accused person that they did not have a “right to bail.” As pointed out in Caveza et al., bail is not a privilege but a right, and should not be refused unless for compelling reasons.
The ADA believes that the judge was out of line and “vehemently disagrees with the statement.” They outlined that bail has been a right in Belize since colonial times.
They took the opportunity to remind the judiciary of their role as guardians, and asked that they uphold the constitutional rights of all persons, especially those poor, vulnerable, and unrepresented.
We understand that Vaughn was granted bail today from the High Court in the sum of two sureties of $10,000 each.
Attorney Richard “Dickie” Bradley in an interview today explained to KREM News’ Marisol Amaya that bail has become “increasingly chaotic” in our local courts. He shared that during the previous UDP administration, measures which infringe on the freedom of citizens were enacted, including the replacement of jury trials with trials presided over by a single judge for some offenses. Bradley went on to state that this current PUP administration extended the list of those offenses that can be heard by judges only, and in addition to that, an important provision that gave judges discretionary powers to grant bail in special circumstances was also removed from our laws.
“It has come to our attention, under the same draconian Crime Control Act there was a provision under section 16. So, although the law said no magistrate can give bail for this list of offenses, the law always had a proviso that a magistrate may for special reasons grant bail to an accused person,” Bradley further noted.
He pointed out that during the last revision of the laws, that revision was removed by the PUP administration without “saying a word to anybody.”
“That amendment to the Crime Control and Criminal Justice Act did not go to the National Assembly,” Bradley explained.
He commented that prior to all these changes, the issuance of bail had never been problematic in Belize.
“Increasingly bail is chaotic; all of a sudden, the liberty of the subject is becoming a major issue. Bail is only heard once a week. Our proposal to the previous Chief Justice, and she was amenable, was that a person can approach the court anytime for his liberty. That is what happens in any democracy,” Bradley explained.
The judiciary in 2023 is led by foreign nationals within both the Magistracy and the High Court. While these adjudicators have wide legal knowledge, they are not fully familiar with the customs of our domestic bench. Bradley said that the issues brought forward by the ADA are strictly related to legal norms, however, and do not call into question the competency of those foreign adjudicators.