This evening accused drug trafficker Robert Hertular - who is wanted for drug crimes both in Belize and the United States - lost another round in his bid for freedom.
Hertular's lawyers had filed constitutional motions asking the Supreme Court to grant him bail and secondly issue an injunction against the magistrate's court from hearing the extradition. That, his lawyers argue would prevent him from being tried twice for the same crime.
After hearing motions from Hertular's attorneys' Lionel Welch and Mike Peyrefitte yesterday - this afternoon, Justice Samuel Awich took about 20 minutes to dismiss their submissions.
Outside the courtroom, Peyrefitte told us that while they didn't get what they asked for they didn't leave court empty handed.
Mike Peyrefitte, Co-Counsel for Robert Hertular
"We asked in a motion that an injunction be placed to stop the extradition proceedings. Mr. Awich never said that we were wrong. All he said that was not the way to do it, by constitutional motion. He said that we should have brought it by 'writ of certiorari', which we have to consider whether we want to do. The second thing we wanted was bail. We are saying that the government of the United States of America with the support of the government of Belize are saying that under the extradition treaty or act, people who are provisionally arrested are not entitled to bail. We are saying that the extradition treaty does not outweigh our own constitution here in Belize and according to our constitution and based on a decision by the Chief Justice, we are entitled to bail so he said that extradition does not mean you are not entitled to bail."
Keith Swift,
"He also said to go back to chief magistrate Herbert Lord who has already said Hertular will not get bail."
Mike Peyrefitte,
"Well he said to go back to Lord and we Lord know has told us in the past that if we want bail we have to come back to Supreme Court. Chief Magistrate Lord sent back here because he says he doesn't know about bail in extradition cases. We are telling them bail is allowed in extradition and it has allowed."
Peyrefitte says they will take that plea for bail back to chief Magistrate Herbert Lord tomorrow.