Photo: Oscar Selgado
by Roy Davis (freelance reporter)
BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Jan. 25, 2024
On Tuesday, January 23, the Crown, represented by the Director of Public Prosecution, Cheryl-Lynn Vidal, closed its case against attorney Oscar Selgado after having called three witnesses: Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams; former Assistant Superintendent of Police, Wilfredo Ferrufino; and Senior Magistrate, Tricia Pitts Anderson.
Although both the Crown and the defense, represented by former High Court judge Adolph Lucas, Sr., had agreed to have the evidence from a voire dire that had been held earlier, incorporated into the main trial, Williams and Ferrufino were called to give additional evidence.
Williams testified that in March 2023 he received the contents of several audio recordings from Giovanni Ramirez via WhatsApp. He said he listened to the tapes 2 or 3 times, and he recognized the voice of Selgado and the voice of Ramirez as the two persons in the recording. He said that he heard Selgado telling Ramirez that the “b@#ch” (referring to Marilyn Barnes), had to die. (Barnes was a former client of Selgado who had submitted a complaint against him to the General Legal Council, which could have led to his being disbarred.) Williams also said that he heard Selgado telling Ramirez where Barnes resides. He said that Selgado’s voice was very recognizable to him because he had heard it almost every night in the past in television interviews that he granted to the media about trials in which Selgado was serving as a defense attorney.
Ferrufino testified that he was given the contents of the tapes by Williams to make an assessment, and he recognized the voices of Selgado and Ramirez as the two persons on the tape. He further corroborated Williams’ testimony by saying that he heard Selgado telling Ramirez that he wanted Marilyn Barnes dead before the next meeting of the General Legal Council. Ferrufino also testified that he handed over the information from the tapes to police corporal Cunningham along with a chain of custody form for him to extract certain information. He said that the voice of Selgado telling Ramirez what to do in the tapes was clear, and it confirmed what Ramirez stated in his statement on July 4, 2019. Ferrufino also testified that he was the arresting officer, and that the video and audio tapes were clear, but those recordings had gone missing.
Senior Magistrate Anderson testified that she was the person who presided over the preliminary inquiry, and that the defense agreed to accept the witness statements without challenging them. She also said that Selgado was given disclosure, and he was indicted to stand trial in the High Court for the charge of abetment to murder.
The trial was adjourned until today for the defense to start its case, but it was further adjourned until tomorrow, January 26, due to unforeseen circumstances.