Newspaper and television cameramen waited for almost an hour this evening outside the Supreme Court to get police constable Burton Caliz, Jr., on camera after he was found guilty of manslaughter for the shooting of Leroy “Dan” Pilgrim, 23, which occurred on February 12, 2004, in the San Juan area of San Pedro Ambergris Caye. But the wait was in vain because about 50 minutes after the jury had given its verdict, Caliz was spirited out of the courtroom by his fellow policemen through a window at the side that leads to winding steps at the back of the Supreme Court building.
A police vehicle waited at the front of the building, but it was apparently only used as a decoy, because Caliz never got into it. Caliz reportedly was taken in a private vehicle that was waiting behind the Supreme Court building.
Caliz will be sentenced on Friday, February 2. The trial judge, Justice John Troadio Gonzalez, at the request of Caliz’s attorney, Ellis Arnold, deferred sentencing until February 2 in order to give Arnold time to prepare a plea for mitigation. Caliz was also represented at the trial by attorney Dickie Bradley.
Just before the verdict was given, Caliz appeared happy and was smiling. But when the foreman of the jury said the verdict was guilty of manslaughter and it was in the proportion of 7 to 1, the smile disappeared from Caliz’s face. The jury deliberated for over 3 hours.
When the trial began on Tuesday, January 23, the jury was 9. But one of the jurors, a woman, was involved in a traffic accident and was given 5 days sick leave, so the trial had to continue without her.
The incident occurred between 9:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. Evidence adduced at the trial revealed that Caliz and Corporal Vidal Cajun went to the San Juan area of San Pedro to investigate the theft of a golf cart. Cajun was armed with a .38 police special, while Caliz was unarmed. Upon their arrival they saw Leroy Pilgrim coming out of the mangrove swamp. They searched him but found nothing incriminating.
They saw a lit flashlight by a dory. Cajun picked up the flashlight and told Caliz to keep an eye on Leroy. Cajun spotted the flashlight on the swamp and saw Leroy’s brother, Sanjay Pilgrim, hiding behind some mangrove. He ordered Sanjay to come out and after Sanjay complied, he searched him, but found nothing incriminating.
Cajun testified that he did not see what happened between Caliz and Leroy. He said he heard a commotion but when he turned around, he saw nothing. He said that he and Sanjay walked to the edge of the water and saw splashing, then heard a muffled sound. Shortly afterwards Caliz emerged from the water with Leroy bleeding. Leroy had been shot once in the back of the head. He was put in a golf cart and was taken to the clinic in San Pedro, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Sanjay testified that he heard when Caliz cocked the hammer of the revolver that Cajun gave him to guard Leroy, and that he saw Caliz push Leroy into the water and submerge him, then he heard the muffled sound.
Lorina Montes, another witness for the prosecution, testified at first that she saw Caliz push Leroy into the water. But under cross-examination by Arnold, she changed her testimony and said that she saw Leroy falling in the water and Caliz falling with him.
The defense had claimed misadventure, meaning that Leroy was shot by accident.
Caliz gave a statement from the dock in which he said Cajun gave him the revolver after he, Cajun, found a gun at the scene. Caliz also said that while he was holding Leroy by the collar with one hand, and had the revolver in the other, Leroy made a rush for the water and stumbled and fell into the water, taking him along in the process.
According to Caliz, he fell on top of Leroy and the revolver discharged accidentally. But the jury did not believe his story and found him guilty.
The prosecution was represented by Crown Counsel Kamar Henry.
Caliz was first charged with manslaughter in February, 2004, but the charge was upgraded to murder then later reduced back to manslaughter and manslaughter by negligence in the alternative.
Leroy Pilgrim was a fisherman with a wife and a daughter who was only one year old when he was killed. Leroy was going to be 24 on March 5, 2004