BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Sept. 27, 2018– Hon. Jose Abelardo Mai, the People’s United Party (PUP) area representative for the Orange Walk South constituency, was slapped with a precedent-setting fine yesterday at the conclusion of a civil suit that was brought against him by relatives of a woman whose death he caused in a traffic accident in April 2016.

Mai was driving his Toyota Hilux pickup truck through Trial Farm Village on April 1, 2016, when he knocked down Julia Arana. The 59-year-old Arana, who was a resident of Trial Farm, was left comatose. After she was released from the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, she showed signs of improvement, but two months after her release, she died.

The results of a post-mortem examination conducted on her body revealed that Arana died from acute cardiorespiratory failure and severe bilateral bronchopneumonia.

Although Mai was not criminally charged, Arana’s son, Nissan Arana, a popular elite cyclist, believed that Mai should be held accountable, and so he filed a civil claim against Mai, seeking damages from the court for his mother’s death.

Mai denied that he was responsible for Arana’s death. When the case ended yesterday, however, Justice Courtenay Abel ruled in favor of the Arana family and ordered Mai to pay damages amounting to over $200,000. This is the highest award the court has ordered for a traffic accident death, and attorney Sheena Pitts, who represented the Arana family, described it as a precedent-setting damages award.

After the ruling, Pitts told reporters, “The outcome was as clear as day from the day the accident occurred. The court found Abelardo Mai one hundred percent liable. The court also found that at as a result of the injuries sustained, that is what caused her to die. So, he did not only knock her down and caused her severe head and body injuries. He also caused her death from those injuries.

“And the court pointed out — and we are forever grateful for the assistance of Dr. (Hugh) Sanchez, a trained pathologist for more years than you can imagine — who showed us that the death certificate prepared by Dr. Ken was so erroneous, beyond logic, and that the only reason why the deceased died is because she suffered those injuries. So, we are grateful to Dr. Sanchez for that. The other part of the case, which we are taking instructions — we’re still taking instructions – is on quantum.”

“The court awarded the claimant $175,000 for general damages. That is pain and suffering, and loss of amenities. The court also made awards in relation to gratuitous care, loss of earnings, and special damages; also, loss of expectation of life. And what we’re pleased with is that this case sets precedence for hereafter in Belize, in that, to put it in common terms, it cannot be cheaper to kill than to injure. Before this case, the conventional award for loss of life was $3,500″ Pitts said.

When Sheena Pitts was asked, what was the total amount that Arana was awarded, she replied that it is between $200,000 and $230,000, with interest that is accruing.

Mai gave several versions of what happened that day, and, in reference to those varying accounts, Pitts said that “We [Pitts and the Arana family] isolated two of the many versions to show the court that they are so inconsistent. On one hand, Mr. Mai said, ‘I didn’t see her until right up at the moment of impact. I didn’t see her before then.’

“And so, what that means is that you [Mai] were not keeping proper lookout. You were not mindful of other road users, and then, the other version that he [Mai] gave is that he saw the deceased from the left hand side of the highway, running across the left-hand side of the highway, enter into the right hand side, where he was driving.”

“And so, having seen her from left moving across to right and not doing anything to avoid colliding with her, you see? So, that is why the court has said that if we take one version, that version that he didn’t see her, right up until the moment of collision, then that shows that he was negligent, in that he was not keeping a proper lookout. So, that feeling people had — or gathered — that it may be cheaper to kill … no more,” Pitts said.

Mai was defended by attorney Julie-Anne Bradley.