It was a sensational bank robbery - pulled off almost exactly a year ago - but now there is no one to answer for the crime. After deliberating for about 3 hours, a jury of 5 women and 4 men found Javier Ramirez not guilty of the charge of burglary. Ramirez had been charged with borrowing an acetylene tank that was used to blow torch the safe. But one of the witnesses for the prosecution, Jose Navarette, said that the accused had borrowed a tank from him - But Ramirez had reported it stolen. In addition to that, Navarette said he did not own the tank that police presented in court.
Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh pointed out that there was no direct evidence or eyewitness to the case and concluded that there was only circumstantial evidence. That was enough for the jury to declare him not guilty and today we caught up with a very grateful Ramirez as he was cleared of all charges - He told us all he's thinking about is bringing his life back to normal. The robbery that occurred between the 8th and the 12th of March 2001 netted some $272,643. At the time, police charged three men, Ramirez, Claudio Cardenas, who was murdered in Orange Walk Town and another man, Luis Anthony Leslie Castellanos, who was cleared of all charges last month.