Batty, a fisherman, was shot three times with a .38 revolver. One bullet struck him in his right eye, another caught him in the left side of his chest and the third hit him in his left hip. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. Gardiner, who was represented by attorney Linsbert Willis, testified from the witness stand. He admitted that he shot Batty, but claimed that it was in self-defence. Gardiner said he was beaten by Batty and four other men, and he managed to escape from them. He testified that he ran 15 feet, stopped, turned around and pulled out his unlicensed .38 revolver from the waist of his pants after he saw a man who was with Batty pull out a pistol. Gardiner said he fired a warning shot in the ground, and then pointed the gun at Michael Hemmans, and afterwards at Batty, before he fired the gun. Batty fell to the ground after he was struck by the first bullet. Gardiner testified that he fired three to four more shots. Gardiner said he fled the scene by exiting the field through the back gate and he went home. It was not until later that he found out that somebody had died. The following day Gardiner went to Queen Street Police Station and surrendered himself. Willis called two eyewitnesses who corroborated Gardiner?s testimony to some extent. Troy Flowers and Deon Sutherland testified that they saw Batty and some other men fighting with Gardiner, and Gardiner got away from them. They said they saw when Gardiner fired several shots at his assailants. The prosecution, represented by Crown Counsel Kevin Arthurs, called 7 witnesses, 2 eyewitnesses among them. The eyewitnesses were Edwin Flowers, and Michael Hemmans. They admitted that Gardiner was being beaten by Batty and some other men. They testified that they saw when Gardiner shot Batty several times. The trial began on Wednesday, December 29, 2004. Gardiner along with his friend, Fransbert Pook, was first charged with Batty?s murder. The charge against Pook was withdrawn, and for Gardiner, it was reduced to manslaughter. In July of last year, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Kirk Anderson, entered a nolle prosequi in Gardiner?s case, but Justice Gonzalez did not accept it because the jury was already empanelled. Justice Gonzalez acquitted Gardiner, but DPP Anderson appealed his decision to the Belize Court of Appeal. The Belize Court of Appeal allowed the appeal and ordered a trial.
AMANDALA, a biweekly newspaper published on Tuesdays and Fridays, was founded as an organ of the United Black Association for Development (UBAD), which emerged on August 13, 1969. Even after UBAD was divided and later dissolved in 1974, AMANDALA remained.
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