Photo: Chief Prosecutor, Alifa Elrington
by Kristen Ku
BELIZE CITY, Wed. Feb. 14, 2024
Day 1 – Wednesday, February 14
In the ongoing saga of the “Bladen 12” trial which resumed today, Wednesday, court proceedings at the Charles Bartlett Hyde Building in Belize City centered on the admissibility of statements made by one of the accused.
The statement of one of two individuals, who claim to have been beaten by officers before they were arrested, was scrutinized in what the court terms a “voir dire” – a trial within a trial to determine evidence admissibility.
Chief Prosecutor Alifa Elrington shed light on the day’s events, explaining the dual focus of the voir dire. “There are a couple things happening with respect to this voir dire,” Elrington said. “One gave statements in the field, so that’s the first aspect of what we’re dealing with the voir dire. He did not give a caution statement; he made utterance after being cautioned. The second accused gave a caution statement, and our position is that the caution statement was given voluntarily.”
When asked about the potential impact if the statements are excluded, Elrington clarified, “So, it’s not one accused. That’s what I’m saying; there are two accused persons. The Crown has to ensure that any statements given by an accused that can incriminate them in any way are given voluntarily, of their own free will; that they were not promised anything, they were not beaten in any way; they were not any of those things. So that is what we’re addressing.”
The length of the voir dire remains uncertain, but based on today’s trial, Elrington believes that this phase will last another 2-3 days.
The case of the “Bladen 12”, twelve individuals who were implicated in a major drug plane landing in November 2021 involving over a ton of cocaine and an assortment of weapons, was adjourned to tomorrow, February 15.
Day 2 – Thursday, February 15
The trial progressed today, Thursday, with the testimony of Sergeant Ortencio Pop in the Anti-Narcotics Unit, the second crown witness, who admitted to deviations from the Commissioner’s Guidelines during the detention of one of the accused, Juan Esparza Sanchez, a Mexican national implicated in the case.
This admission came amid the voir dire assessing the validity of Sanchez’s statements and his identification of the location of over 800 kilos of cocaine seized by authorities following the plane landing.
Sergeant Pop acknowledged the failure to document Sanchez’s statements as required, attributing the oversight to Corporal Arnold, who conducted the interview.
The defense, led by attorney Leroy Banner, challenged the procedural breaches, suggesting that they compromised Sanchez’s rights and possibly indicated mistreatment. Despite these allegations, Pop denied any misconduct, including firing upon Sanchez or any physical assault.
The defense also addressed a time discrepancy of one hour and fifty-three minutes unaccounted for between Sanchez’s detention and his arrival at the Belmopan police station, hinting at potential assault. However, Pop denied any mistreatment of Sanchez.
Furthermore, an attempt by Banner to discuss a hospital admission form indicating Sanchez’s broken foot was blocked, as it fell outside the scope of the current voir dire. Nonetheless, the Senior Magistrate has ordered the prosecution to summon the attending doctor as a witness, and Banner has asked for a custody form.
“We are saying that our client was assaulted in custody before he gave certain statements. The police are saying that they prepared a prisoner’s custody form and that form should contain details, and one of the important details is the condition the person was in when he was detained; and that is crucial for our case, because we want to show what condition he was in when he was being detained by the police,” Banner told reporters.
The trial was adjourned, and it is scheduled to resume on Monday, February 19.